


You're the Clock

by LiveLaughLovex



Category: Scandal (TV)
Genre: F/M, I don't think I tagged everyone, oh well
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-06
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-01-09 16:08:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 46,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12279915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: Olivia Pope learns a few things about letting people in and letting things be as she prepares to welcome her first child with Jake Ballard.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yay, I finally posted this.

There were a thousand things that should have been on Olivia Pope's mind at that moment. She was the person in charge of one of the most successful political consulting firms in all of D.C., which meant that there were files stacked on top of files in her office of cases she still had to accept or turn over to someone else. Andrew Nichols, the man that had had her kidnapped her for a week with no remorse simply to force the President of the United States of America into a war that most Americans, even those with more conservative viewpoints, didn't believe in, was being released from the hospital later on in the day, even though his position had been terminated when it became obvious that his fine motor function and mental stability-if it could be called that- had been destroyed by the stroke that he had suffered. Susan Ross, the Senator from Virginia that she had helped get elected months before, was the President's-and the First Lady's-first pick for the office of the Vice President since it had been vacated by Nichols, and Abby had already asked her to help Susan deal with the optics of becoming one of the most powerful women in the world after less than six months in the Senate. There were politicians calling her every minute of every day, family members calling to beg for her help on one case or another, many of which were either at the top or the bottom of that stack of files that she couldn't bring herself to sort through. And if all of that wasn't enough, her father was still walking around as a free man after killing some of the nation's bravest soldiers and almost taking Jake's life, as well. Olivia had a lot of things that she could have been focusing on in that moment. But there was only one thing that she was capable of focusing on.

It was hard to believe that it had been eight weeks since she had been taken from her apartment by masked men and endured much more than some people could live to speak of before Stephen managed to save her from being sold onto the black market. It was even harder to believe that it had been seven weeks since he had helped her onto that plane and accompanied her home before returning to Russia and the life that he had built for himself. It was hard to believe that it had been that long, because it was hard for her to believe that what she had been forced to endure had ended. She still woke screaming most nights, still couldn't sleep unless she was too physically exhausted to stay awake, and still looked at everyone that walked by her as though they could be the next person ready and willing to cause her harm. She was traumatized, had been diagnosed with PTSD weeks before, and yet refused to make any changes to her lifestyle. In her opinion, if she changed, they won. It wasn't even funny how often it occurred to her that they had already won. She would never again be the woman that laughed and danced in her apartment. That woman had died the day that she had been snatched.

She tried her best to be normal, though. She drove to work every day, even if she spent most of the day in her office with Jake, whose presence was apparently nonnegotiable until they got her father off of the streets. She went home, ate dinner, and settled into bed, although she rarely did any of those things alone anymore, either. Jake had learned in the second week that he had spent on her couch after she had returned that Olivia hated being alone in bed because it worsened her nightmares and made it nearly impossible for him to pull her out of them, so he laid beside her every night from that point on. Olivia didn't even try to pretend that she was unaware of the fact that he laid awake even more often than she did. The fact that her screams were what awoke him each and every night made her hate the people that had done this to her just a little bit more, something that she hadn't known was possible.

There were good times, though. He still ordered in food and rented movies and poured her wine, although she had switched to white almost immediately after she caught sight of the stain on her couch cushion. He had ordered a new sofa with her help as soon as she was finally ready to let go of that one, although she knew that he knew that letting go of the couch was a lot different than letting go of the trauma. They laughed sometimes. In fact, he was the only one that could make her laugh at all those days. But despite the fact that he was what made her feel whole, despite the fact that she fell more and more in love with him every day, they didn't do anything beyond that more than once. But as the women at her Catholic boarding schools had preached again and again, once was all that it really took.

On the night that it had happened, it had been two days since her return from the hell that she had endured at the hands of the cronies of Andrew Nichols and Elizabeth North, and she had been so defeated that she hadn't known where to go for help. She had called Jake, but had been a tearful mess when he had arrived, and had yelled and screamed at him until he wrapped her in his arms and pressed a kiss to her head while promising that everything was okay and he was going to make sure it stayed that way. She hadn't even bothered to inform him that that was in no way a promise that he could keep before she had pressed her lips to his, and while he had been rightfully hesitant, her tears had won out in the end. It amused her still, the fact that Jake Ballard could face bombers and terrorists and other extremely unsavory people with a charming smile that made them want to spill all their secrets but gave a crying woman whatever she wanted with no questions asked. It was a reminder that, in some ways, he was just like other men.

The positive pregnancy test in her hands was a reminder that he wasn't like other men in other ways, because it had been one time and yet there was a baby with his DNA (and hers) growing in her uterus at that very moment in time, which further explained the exhaustion and the tears and the fact that she was craving mint chocolate chip ice cream despite the fact that she despised mint chocolate chip ice cream. In fact, it was the only explanation needed for her. That wasn't the problem at the moment. The problem at that moment was that while she and Jake were much more stable than they had been in the past, they were still broken. He was still living with the trauma he had suffered at the hands of his father and her own, and she was still coping with the warning signs of PTSD. They had never really discussed children, not even when they were on the island, and the very few times that they had, they had come to a mutual agreement that the conversation could be placed aside to be had when it was more pertinent to their lives. She had been on birth control, something that he was aware of, which meant that this shouldn't have even been happening. But it was, which made that conversation extremely pertinent and even more terrifying than it had been in the past.

She shoved the pregnancy tests into a plastic bag as though they were evidence when she heard the door close. Jake was the only person other than Huck with access to her keys, so she knew immediately that he had returned from his briefing with the President. She tried to breath in and out to calm herself, but the air got caught in her lungs for a long enough period of time that she started having a coughing fit, which was certainly not the way that she had wanted to inform Jake of her whereabouts. She shoved the pregnancy tests aside just as he made his way through the open door, a look of confusion and concern on his facial features.

"Hey," he greeted, smiling slightly as he leaned against the doorjamb. "I figured you'd be asleep by now. It's pretty late." He squinted slightly and struggled to meet her eyes when she looked absolutely everywhere but at him. "Did you have another nightmare?" he asked gently. "Because if you did, you should probably take some sleeping medication. That's what the doctor prescribed it for." When she still refused to meet his sighs, he let out a deep breath. "Okay, Liv, I'm really confused right now. When I left this morning, everything was fine. Well, not fine, but better. Did I do something? Because if I did, you need to tell me, because I can't apologize or fix it if I don't know what I did." He smiled gently, taking her face in his hands. "So. Just tell me."

"You know how I've been feeling exhausted lately, and the doctor thought that it was just a result of the medication they used on me not being completely out of my system?" When he nodded, she drew in a deep breath to continue. "Well, while you were gone today, she called me in, said that she didn't think the effects would be that long-lasting. She took blood and urine samples to see if she could figure out what was going on. She, um, she did." Olivia let out a soft, shaky laugh. "The hospital lab called me a few hours ago, right before they closed. I'm pregnant."

Jake's eyes widened, but Olivia rushed on before he could even speak. "I'm less than seven weeks, I know, but you're the father, and you deserve to know. And also, you, you pretty much live here, so it would be hard to hide it." She breathed in shakily once again. "I know that we never really talked about this, that we always said we'd discuss it when the time came, but if I've learned anything in the past eight weeks, it's that nothing seems to happen on our schedules. I mean, when we met, I was a mess, and I had no idea what I was doing, and I was scared, and you, you're one of the best things to happen to me. And I feel that way again now. I think that this baby could be one of the best things to ever happen to me. But if you want an out, if you don't want to be involved or you don't feel the same way, please tell me. Tell me now, because I don't want this baby to deal with loss the way that I had to deal with it, and if I'm going to lose you, I want to know now. So, please, if you're out, then tell me you're out."

Jake looked at her seriously. "Can I talk now?" he asked, a teasing lilt in his voice. She nodded sheepishly. "Good." He smiled before growing serious once again. "I've never wanted to hurt the people in your life that have hurt you in the past more than I want to at this moment, because it destroys me that you have to ask if I want to stick around for this. It destroys me that you still wonder if I love you, and I know that that's not on you, I know that's on your parents and everyone else that's walked away, but it still, it hurts me. It hurts me because it hurts you. Haven't you realized by now that you and me, we're in whatever life throws at us together. You and me are in this together, not because I feel an obligation or because of my job, but because I love you." He took her face in his hands. "I love you, Olivia. I don't know how many times I will have to say that before you realize that I love you means I'll never purposefully leave you, but until you tell me to stop, which I pray that you will never do, I will say it as often as you need to hear it. And today, I love you means that I love this baby too. It means that you're not getting rid of me unless you force me away from your life. It means that for me, this thing that you and I have got going is what I consider an example of forever." He brushed a curl away from her temple. "So. I love you, Olivia. Will you let me do that?"

Her answer was obvious long before he asked that question. "Okay."


	2. Chapter 2

There was one thing Olivia hadn't predicted when she had learned that she was pregnant. She hadn't even suspected that Jake was going to love the idea of being a father as much as he did. She didn't know why that wasn't a prediction that she had made; Jake loved kids, had fought wars to keep them safe, and yet the fact that he had none of his own had made her believe that he would be slightly hesitant about welcoming a child into the world. But no, he was the one steering her away from foods that were supposedly bad for a growing fetus and replacing her coffee, even the decaf form of it that was barely drinkable, with more suitable options such as hot chocolate and tea. Surprisingly, he had emerged as the rational one in their still strange relationship. She was the terrified, paranoid, extremely irrational member of their still-growing party of two. It would have bothered her a lot more if there weren't hormones coursing through her body that she could conveniently blame her constant case of what was supposedly temporary insanity on.

Jake was also the one making sure that Olivia stayed sane during the more important parts of the first trimester of her pregnancy. Her first prenatal checkup and ultrasound fell on the first day of her eighth week of pregnancy. It wasn't something that she had anticipated being nervous about; she had been going to Dr. Addison Reilly, a world-renowned OBGYN with a specialty in fetal surgery, since she had moved to D.C. early on in her twenties, and while she had never gone to the woman with this particular condition, dozens of photographs of healthy babies in the arms of their parents or of Dr. Reilly herself were evidence of the woman's complete and utter competence. Despite that knowledge, though, Olivia had nearly had a nervous breakdown when it was time to go to the doctor's, and only Jake's bribe of a hot fudge milkshake from Gettysburger (her only craving as of yet, and the only substance she could keep down in the morning that possessed even the slightest amount of nutritional value) had managed to pull her from her bed. Two hours after being pulled from said bed by the well-meaning (but also rather annoying) father of her unborn child, she sat in a cold, clinical waiting room, staring-or, more correctly, glaring-at the pale white paint of the walls as she flipped through yet another magazine about the dozens of birth defects that children were born with each and every day.

"Why do they use forceps during natural childbirth?" Olivia asked, horrified as she flipped the page of the magazine that she was reading. The fact that someone who spent her days helping mothers and their unborn children had a magazine full of all the things that could go wrong before there was even a chance for the mother to stop it from happening unnerved her a bit more than she was willing to admit, which was why she was thankful that Jake was in the same room as her at the moment. She didn't have to admit anything to him; he just knew.

"Well, I haven't exactly been hitting the baby books as though I'm approaching my biggest final exam before college graduation," Jake answered, shooting her an amused look that suggested that he was extremely aware of the fact that she had been doing exactly that since she had found out, "but I have learned enough to know that forceps are sometimes required. Doctors don't always have a choice in the matter, Liv. I think you know enough about this doctor to know what her limits are, and you definitely know enough about yourself to know what your limits are, so how about we put the whole forceps debacle off to the side until it's a conversation that we actually need to have, all right?"

"It's not as though spinal trauma due to excessive strength of the person operating the forceps is the biggest cause of problems for newborns, Jake. I mean, what if this baby's born with some rare heart defect that nobody can fix, or some disease where their bones break, or…" She trailed off. "What if something's wrong?"

"Olivia, nothing is wrong. But if something is, then you and I will deal with it as soon as it needs to be dealt with."

"So you admit it's possible that something is wrong?" Olivia asked, latching on to the end of his speech instead of the beginning.

"Olivia, there is a small percentage of a chance that something could be wrong with every baby ever conceived. The fact that there's a chance does not mean that anything is going to be wrong. And if something is wrong, then the ultrasound will pick up on it."

"Well, sometimes it doesn't. He could be deaf or blind, and they can't really figure that out with a picture. What if that happens? Do you think that could happen?"

"Oh, dear God in Heaven, please grant me strength," Jake muttered as he glanced towards the ceiling and then closed his eyes. "Olivia, you have this habit of latching on to the negative, and that's fine in some situations, but all we know is that medical professionals have confirmed that you are pregnant and you, a completely sane woman with extreme control freak tendencies, have done the same with an at-home pregnancy test. While all of those tests have confirmed that you are in fact pregnant, they can't tell us if the baby is blind or deaf or suffering from a rare heart condition. The only thing that can do that is an ultrasound, and you haven't had one of those yet, so please, for the sake of your own health and the health of that son or daughter of ours in there currently using your uterus as their personal bachelor or bachelorette pad, please don't think the worst until we have a reason to. All right?"

"I'm just… I'm scared. I do good with facts when I'm scared," Olivia murmured, causing Jake to cup her face in his hands. "All those diseases and those conditions, they're facts. I can understand them. I can deal with them."

"But they're scaring you more, sweetheart. They are making you think that you can control this somehow, and you can't. The baby is either going to be healthy or she's not, but the only thing that you can do is pray that she is. You can't control this." He wrapped an arm around her. "And there are good facts out there, right? Let those facts be the ones you understand so that you can do more than deal with them."

"You called me sweetheart," she murmured, a slight smile on her face. "You never call me sweetheart."

"Well, I had to do something to shock you enough to pull you out of that dark hole." He grinned back at her.

"I like it," she informed him.

"Yeah," Jake said, glancing out the window with a bemused expression on his face. "Let's talk about that later."

"Why?" she asked confusedly.

"Because you have the unfair habit of dumping things like that on me in public, and I need to be somewhere private to react."

"Oh. Oh," Olivia realized with a gasp. "Just so you're aware, that's not fair, either."

"Yeah, well, play with fire and you get burned." Jake smiled as she leaned against him slightly. His smile became even wider when the nurse called her name. "And it looks like you're up, babe. Let's go."

"Why, so we can see if he has two heads?" Olivia questioned as they approached the nurse, her previous worries back in her mind as soon as she caught sight of the medical professional.

"Okay, all right," Jake stated slightly dramatically. "That's it. I'm checking into mental asylums in the area and placing myself in one until this pregnancy is over. I'm going to go insane if I don't."

"Well, I mean, you might be able to use the information to better yourself," Olivia teased, her expression still serious.

"So this is what happens when you have a baby with a woman, huh? She starts making fun of your mental state just for laughs?" Jake sighed, the smile still on his face.

"I wouldn't know, Ballard, given that I've never had a baby with a woman," Olivia shot back, causing the nurse to chuckle slightly before becoming serious once again and asking Olivia to step onto the scale. After her weight had been documented and the nurse had also taken her pulse, blood pressure, and temperature, Olivia and Jake were told to settle in for a few minutes and wait for Dr. Reilly to finish with her previous patient.

The red-headed doctor only took five minutes to appear in the room, and she did so with a smile. "So I hear that we will have a baby Olivia running around here soon. That must be exciting news for you." She gestured for Olivia to lean back on the table. "So, you're exactly eight weeks along, which means that there's a fifty-fifty chance on a lot of things, including hearing the heartbeat. Now, I usually don't let the parents hear the heartbeat when I'm not entirely sure there is one just yet, simply because most people freak out at that point if there isn't, but from what the nurse was telling me, you're already plenty freaked out, so how about we take a look and a listen just to see what's up with that little one of yours. I mean, as long as both of you are all right with that?" She glanced at their excited expressions and laughed. "I've been doing this for over a decade, so I have no idea why I still ask that question. The parents always look like kids in a candy shop the second that I do." She shook her head in amusement. "All right, then. I will have Hallie run and get the machine, and then we'll have a look, make sure your little one's up to date on their measurements and such." She jotted something down in her notes. "After that, we won't be seeing you for a little over four weeks, if my math is right, so, before we get into the excitement of seeing Baby, let me tell you what I tell everyone. Don't worry about waking me up for nothing. If you're experiencing cramping, bleeding, or what seems to be pre-term labor, the latter of which won't happen until a little later on, you pick up the phone and call me. I don't care if we do a thousand false alarms at the hospital, because I'd rather us do that than put your baby at risk in any way. Do you understand?"

Olivia nodded, and Dr. Reilly did the same before stating, "All right, let's get that machine in here and get a peek at that baby of yours."

Ten minutes later, they were doing just that. Olivia stared at the tiny blob in awe. Jake kissed her palm as he did the same.

Dr. Reilly glanced towards them with a smile. "You and Baby are exactly where you should be, Olivia. There's no signs that there are any health concerns at this point for either of you, so stop raising your blood pressure." The woman chuckled when Olivia glanced at her sheepishly. "I'm going to print out some copies of these for you. When you go to the front desk, have Dell set up an appointment for you in about four weeks. That'll put you close enough to twelve weeks that we may be able to figure out what you're carrying. If we aren't able to then, it's extremely likely that we will be able to at fifteen or eighteen weeks, depending on how shy your little one is." She finished up her notes and smiled as she handed them over. "Take those to the front desk to put on file, and then you're good to go. Also," the doctor stated as she stood, "Please, for the sake of your sanity and your blood pressure, stop reading up on birth defects. Especially the ones that we haven't seen cases of in decades. It's not good for you or that baby if you're constantly worrying about things you have no control over, all right?"

Olivia nodded sheepishly once again, and Jake helped her down from the examination table with a small smile. Dr. Reilly flashed them both a brief grin before she excused herself from the room to check in with her next patient, and Olivia made her way to the front desk, her hand in Jake's as they walked. After making the appointment with Dell, they made their way to the car, where Jake opened her door first and waited for her to climb in before closing it behind her and making his way around the vehicle so he could open his own and slide behind the wheel. After they had both fastened their seatbelts and he had put the car in Reverse, backed out of the parking space, and then shifted into Drive and slowly exited the parking lot, he was finally able to turn his attention to her for a moment. Olivia could feel his eyes on her despite the fact that her own were closed, and yet she had no idea just what it was that she wanted to say to him.

Of course, Jake had no idea of what was going on in her mind, which meant that he thought that she was lost in negative thoughts, as she had often been in the past few weeks. He pressed a kiss against her palm and then rested their linked fingers against the console before speaking. "Talk to me, Liv. What's wrong?" he questioned softly.

"It's stupid," Olivia mumbled, scoffing slightly at the tears welling in her eyes and cursing her pregnancy hormones. "I mean, it's not even the kind of thing that I'd be bothered by if not for the fact that a small person is currently using my uterus as their own personal lounge at all hours of the day."

"Well, how about you tell me anyway? Considering the fact that, you know, there is a small person currently using your uterus as their own personal lounge at all hours of the day." It was obvious that Jake had to stifle a laugh to get that sentence out, but his facial expression was both serious and innocent when she met his gaze.

"The doctor didn't ask what you were to me. And she probably doesn't ask anyone that question, because people have babies for all sorts of reasons these days and people of all sorts of relation to them or the child come to the appointments, but as she was telling us about the baby, all I could think was that if she had asked, I wouldn't know how to introduce you. We haven't talked about that. Not just before this happened, but at any point in our history. And I… I know that I could call you the baby's father, but I want you to be more than that. I want us to be more than just the parents of this child, you know? So, if someone asks, I don't want to introduce you as nothing more than my unborn child's father."

Jake laughed lightly, and Olivia glared at him before muttering, "See? I told you it was stupid."

"I'm not laughing because I think it's stupid, Olivia. Well, maybe a little bit, but I don't think what you said was stupid. The fact that you think you have to ask me if we can be more than just the parents to this unborn child is slightly ridiculous, though." He widened his eyes slightly when she glanced towards him in confusion. "I've been in love with you for… well, forever. Ever since you walked into that inappropriately fancy French restaurant and called me Captain Ballard, I knew that I was done for. That hasn't changed, Olivia. We can be whatever you want us to be, we can do whatever you want us to do. So if you want to introduce me as something more than our child's father, then do it."

Olivia chuckled lightly, sniffling as she did so. "You know, these big romantic speeches wouldn't be making me cry if not for the hormones, so you should be very thankful for this little person's existence right now."

"Oh, I am," Jake replied seriously.

"I don't want to lose this," Olivia murmured. "I don't want to lose us." She sniffled again. "I don't know how I feel about you, Jake. Or maybe I do. No, I definitely do, but I'm not ready to put it into words." She tightened her grip on his hand. "You mean something to me. You are something to me, something that I never thought I'd get to have in my life. You being here has allowed me to experience things that I never thought I'd experience, this being one of them, and I am… I am so happy that I got to meet you, even if it was because of my sociopathic father." Jake chuckled slightly at that, and she responded to the sound with a brilliant smile. "Is that enough for you? Until I can… until I can give you more, until I can be more, is that enough?"

"Olivia, trust me on this one thing. Whatever you have to offer, whatever you choose to give, it will always be enough. It will always be enough because you will always be enough." He pressed a kiss to her fingers. "Of all the things I've told you, that is one that you can take to the bank."

"You should be careful, you know," Olivia warned him playfully. "You keep this up, and you'll start to make me feel even more special than you already do."

"Well, that's not a problem for me. You deserve to feel special, Olivia. You deserve it more than anyone else I've ever met in my life."

For one of the first times in her life, she actually believed those words to be true.


	3. Chapter 3

Quinn and Huck were buried in their newest case, which involved covering up the tracks of a womanizing, extremely prominent conservative senator, when Olivia and Jake returned to OPA with food from Gettysburger. The two new arrivals were then immediately placed in the background by Olivia's coworkers, who simply thanked them for the food and then returned to hacking whatever it was that had needed hacking. Olivia smiled and shook her head as she exited the boardroom, gesturing for Jake to follow her into her office. He settled himself on the sofa after closing the door behind them, his eyes following her as she removed paper plates and plastic cutlery from a nearby cabinet that held the meager Christmas decorations that the staff of OPA had accumulated since the consulting firm's establishment. He raised an eyebrow in amusement when tinsel fell from the cabinet.

She smiled sheepishly. "Abby insisted that this place needed some Christmas spirit if we weren't going to get a holiday break every year, so I started gathering things. We usually try to put up a small tree, things like that. None of us have fond memories of our Christmases during our childhoods, so we all try to remedy that whenever we can." She accepted the bag of food that he extended in her direction. "I want to be better about that, though. Kids shouldn't have to deal with their parents' issues standing in the way of things considered to be traditional." She bit into a fry with a slight smile. "Do you celebrate Christmas?"

"I'm Catholic, Liv. I go to mass," Jake deadpanned, finishing off his fries and then opening the container holding his burger. "But other than that, no. I stick more towards the religious aspect as often as I can. When I'm with my mother, we do whatever she wants. She loves Christmas, but it's hard for her to celebrate it alone, because it was Emily's favorite holiday, too. I try to be with her at least once every two years. Makes it easier for me, too. Emily's ghost is everywhere during the holidays. It's a little easier to be around someone who knew her."

"I'm sorry," Olivia murmured softly.

"Don't be. She'd be proud of me." Jake cleared his throat. "So, correct me if I'm wrong here," he added teasingly, changing the subject with an ease that impressed even her, "but aren't cravings supposed to come after morning sickness?"

"Well, that would be rational. The baby's not even two months old in there. He doesn't understand rational." She smirked at him. "And you don't seem to have a problem getting up in the middle of the night to go and get those milkshakes."

"Of course I don't. If our kid wants a milkshake, she's going to get a milkshake." Jake beamed at her, but the smile slowly slipped away. "I never thought I'd get to experience all of this with anyone, honestly. I've been in this situation before, but she made a different choice." He looked at her, and she felt her heart ache when she caught sight of the look in his eyes. "I know you must have considered making the same one. Thank you for deciding not to."

"I believe in a woman's right to choose, Jake, but I didn't consider making the same choice, not even for a moment. There were two pink lines, and I knew my life was going to change without even having to think about it. I'm sorry for what the women in your past have done, but for me, there was no choice to be made." She smiled slightly when his eyes met hers. "And you, me, and this kid, we are going to spend the rest of our lives making enough good memories to erase the awful ones that we both gathered in our separate pasts."

"That won't be too hard," Jake replied. "You make it better without even trying most days, anyway."

"That's hard to believe sometimes," Olivia commented. "Two of the times you saw me for the first time in days or weeks or months, my father or Fitz had beaten you to the point that you were close to needing emergency medical care. You're really telling me that made it better for you?"

"I could've gone without the broken bones, but yeah, Liv. It was worth it. You're always worth it." Jake paused before speaking again. "Speaking of Fitz, are we going to tell him?"

"We're both pretty prominent public figures at this point, Jake. The paparazzi still follows us wherever we go. He's going to find out whether we tell him or not." She approached him after throwing away the sleeve holding her fries and the box holding her half-eaten sandwich. "I don't owe him anything. But if you want to tell him, then I'll be with you there the entire time." She smiled again. "I'll be with you for the rest of my life."

"Olivia, I know that you and him and him and I... our friendships, relationships, whatever you want to call them have gone down a bumpy road, but sometimes, somehow, I still see him as my best friend. I want to be able to tell my best friend that I'm having a baby with the woman that I love, the woman that's going to be with me for the rest of my life."

"I said the rest of my life," Olivia corrected with a chuckle.

"I'm very hopeful you'll outlive me." He smiled at her expression. "What? I'd haunt you, you wouldn't be alone."

"Oh, thanks so much."

He chuckled. "So, how can I help you with this case of yours?"

"You hate the cases that I work," Olivia pointed out amusedly.

"Yeah, well, you just said that you want to be with me for the rest of your life. I need an excuse to stick around after that."

Olivia chuckled softly. "Did you even stop to consider that if I want to spend the rest of my life with you, you don't need an excuse to stick around?"

"Oh." Jake paused for a moment before grinning. "Hm. No, I hadn't considered that. But, uh…" He stood, approaching her desk. "I don't need an excuse to do this?" He pressed a kiss to her cheek, causing her to chuckle slightly. "Or this?" He then kissed her temple, smiling when she sighed happily. "Or even…" His lips hovered a few inches away from hers. "This?" He pressed his lips against hers, cupping her face in his hands as he did so. "I don't need an excuse to do any of that?"

"Nope," Olivia replied, her tone teasing despite its breathlessness. "In fact, you don't even have to warn me before you do that if you don't want to."

"I'll keep that in mind," Jake replied, his chin resting on her shoulder. "You know," he whispered teasingly, causing her to raise her eyebrows, "we could be eating ice cream right now. That mint chocolate chip kind that Baby likes is on sale. But, you know, you need to help this philandering senator…" He trailed off, grinning when she playfully glared at him. "What? I'm telling you the truth."

"Sometimes, Jake Ballard, I despise you," she replied with a smile.

"Yeah, it's not anything new. What?" he chuckled when he was forced to dodge the playful swing she took at his chest. "You can be very vocal about how much you dislike me sometimes. Guess what, though?" She sighed as she looked up at him, and his eyes grew serious despite the smile on his face. "I love you twice as much every single day than you hate me on our worst days."

"It's nice," she replied softly, causing his eyes to twinkle despite the confusion in them. "Knowing someone would miss you if you died." She closed her eyes before opening them again. "I'm not there yet, Jake. But I will be. And for now…" She smiled again. "I'd miss you if you died. I wouldn't know what to do without you."

"I'll take it," Jake joked immediately, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "So, what is that you're looking into right now?"

It was in that moment that Olivia realized that some happy endings didn't need the fairytale aspect. All they needed was unfailing, unwavering, unconditional love. And she and Jake had gathered that in spades in all of the time that they'd been both together and apart. And that might not always be enough, but it was in that moment. In fact, it was more than enough. And that was all that either of them could ask for.

Well, it wasn't all that they could have asked for. Some peace and quiet would have been nice, too, but Quinn walked in at that moment, causing both of them to jump as Jake muttered a rather colorful string of words and snapped, "Perkins, I taught you how to knock before entering a room for a reason!"

"Oh, um, sorry," Quinn stuttered before turning her attention towards Liv. "You have a call, Liv. It's from the East Wing of the White House. That's all that they'd tell me."

"What the hell does Mellie want?" Jake muttered into Olivia's ear, causing her to shrug in confusion as she transferred the call into her office.

"This is Olivia Pope," she spoke into the receiver, causing Jake to smile against her neck at the professionalism in her tone.

"Ms. Pope, please hold for the First Lady of the United States," Mellie's Chief of Staff replied. Olivia groaned internally as she did just that.

Mellie's voice came onto the line in under ten seconds. "Liv, how are you?" The concern in her voice seemed to be genuine, but Olivia had known the woman long enough to know that she was one of the best actresses in human history. "I know that we haven't spoken since you came back, but the awful things that happened to you…" The other woman trailed off. "I can't imagine how terrible that must have been for you."

"I'm fine, Madame First Lady," Olivia replied, her tone still professional. "How can I help you today?"

"I'm sorry to ask, especially since you're still recovering, but I was wondering if you'd consider taking on my campaign for the Senate. I know that we've had our differences in the past, but I believe that you would be the best choice for the role, and our history would help us, not hurt us." Mellie paused. "It would mean a lot to me if you could find the time to take this on."

"Mellie, I would love to help you with this, but I honestly… I don't have the time to take this on. It would also be awful for the optics, and optics are going to be everything for you if you want to win this election. I was accused of being your husband's mistress multiple times in the past. Bringing me onto your campaign would be detrimental to it. It wouldn't benefit you in any way. And truthfully, I think that you deserve that seat, because I think you have a chance at becoming the President of the United States and changing this country for the better. Because of my belief in your abilities, I cannot accept the position, although I will extend an open offer to help in the background via my firm if needed." Olivia sighed when Mellie began to protest almost immediately. "Mellie, this is what's best for you."

"Olivia, my husband slept with you. We both know that. My marriage was ruined, and I'm not saying that it's your fault, because God knows that I'm not innocent, and the person that I chose to break my vows with…" Olivia could hear her delicate shudder on the other end of the line. "He did awful things right under my nose, and I am disgusted with myself for allowing him to distract me so much that he almost killed you before I realized what he was guilty of. But Liv, my marriage is over. Fitz can't stand me half of the time, and the only reason that he does right now is because I helped save your life. And that's not me trying to guilt you into this, that's simply the truth." She paused once again. "I have nothing. I need this."

"I know you do, Mellie. That's why I'm saying no. We can't keep owing each other things, Mellie. It'll destroy us both in the end." Jake pressed a comforting kiss against her temple, and Olivia sighed. "OPA will help you in private, but publicly, I would suggest that you ask Leo or Abby to take on your campaign. They're extremely capable, and you have less history with them. They can get you that seat, Mellie. They can, and I can't."

"I don't know how we ended up here," Mellie murmured, causing Olivia to sigh. "I don't know how I ended up in this place. What is this place, Liv? My son is dead, and I can't feel it anymore. I felt it so much, and I can't feel it anymore. I need this. I need this to be able to feel."

"I know," Olivia replied. "That's why I'm telling you not to place something this important to you in my hands, because I will fail you. I think I have already failed your family enough in this lifetime."

"Thank you, Liv," Mellie spoke finally. "Thank you for everything you've done for me. For him. Thank you for loving him in the way that I couldn't, even if it was just for a short period of time. Thank you." She drew in a deep breath. "I'm going to tell you what he'll want to be able to but won't, because he can't. Be happy with whoever makes you happy, and don't worry about the state of anyone's heart unless it's your own. You've earned the right to practice a little selfishness now and again."

"Thank you, Madame First Lady," Olivia replied softly.

"Oh, and Liv?" Mellie added quickly.

"Yes?"

"Tell Jake I said hi."

Olivia hung up the phone a few moments after Mellie, an amused expression on her face. "I think our First Lady likes you more than she likes me," she commented to Jake, causing him to chuckle.

"She's the only person," Jake replied. "I like you more than I like me."

"Oh, is that so?" Olivia teased.

Jake nodded seriously. "I like you more than I like everybody, honestly."

"Good," she murmured. "Me, too."

"You like you more than you like everybody?" Jake shot back, causing her to roll her eyes. "I'm not surprised. You are pretty awesome."

"No, usually I like you more than I like everybody else, but right now you're being stupid, so I might have to reconsider that decision."

"Oh, really?" Jake wrapped an arm around her and nuzzled her neck, causing her to burst into laughter. "You sure you don't want to reconsider that?"

"Okay, fine, fine. You win!" Olivia laughed.

"What's my prize?" Jake whispered softly.

"I'll share my ice cream with you when we get home," she murmured back, her eyes twinkling.

"Wow, you must have been lying when you said you despised me. I feel really specially now," Jake replied immediately, an amused lilt in his voice as he bent to kiss her forehead once again.

Olivia was silent at that moment, but it wasn't because she didn't have anything to say. Oh, she definitely had something to say, but she still wasn't quite brave enough to say it. That being said, she felt it with everything within her, and she knew, without even the slightest doubt in her mind, that she would feel the way that she felt in that moment until the very last breath that she took. And that was enough for her at that moment in time.


	4. Chapter 4

It was four in the afternoon by the time that Olivia finally managed to finish up a phone call with the senator whose reputation she and her team had singlehandedly saved in less than seventy-two hours, and after dealing with his flirtatious nature for over thirty minutes, she was very, very close to just hanging up on him when he finally bid her farewell. Quinn and Huck had already begun to do the footwork for their next case by the time that she hung up the phone. Jake had been called into the White House by the President and Cyrus at three to discuss an operation that the senior members of the White House had orchestrated in under an hour to arrest her father, and Olivia was alone in her office. While she would have usually been out with Huck and Quinn, questioning the daughter of a local politician that had asked for their help after her father's untimely death had been ruled a suicide despite her very heartfelt and frustrated protests that he did not suffer from mental health issues, Jake's concern had benched her until she was safely out of the first trimester of her pregnancy. She had tried to protest that her job wasn't dangerous, but Jake had reminded her rather quickly of the case she had taken on that had almost ended in her death when she thought she was helping a grieving mother, and she had folded almost immediately, if only to reduce the amount of worry that seemed to be constantly in Jake's eyes when he was around her and had been since long before she informed him of her pregnancy. Normally, she would be fine with the time spent alone. In fact, she would normally embrace it. But she wasn't normally waiting for news on how her boyfriend's mission to end her father's reign of terror had gone, so she didn't suppose anything about the day was normal.

Jake could handle himself. She knew that, had seen it with her own two eyes. He could take down people without even flinching, pull the trigger of a gun with very little hesitation if his life was placed in danger or if someone he cared about was threatened, and act on a whim if his instincts told him to. He was one of the most capable people she had ever met, and yet she couldn't help but worry about him. She supposed it was one of the very few downsides of being in love.

A knock on her office door pulled her from her thoughts, and she waved Quinn in when she caught sight of her on the other side of the glass. Quinn smiled slightly when she glanced at Olivia, but gave no indication of why she did so before diving into the details she had gathered about the case. "Luke Jamison, forty-two, one of the many aldermen of Richmond, Virginia, was found dead in his private residence two days ago, which you know from the case file. He's survived by his only child, twenty-one-year-old Reagan Jamison, who remains adamant that her father was not suicidal or even depressed, which you also knew." Quinn held up a hand when Olivia opened her mouth to speak. "I'm getting to what you don't know now, Boss." Olivia closed her mouth and gestured for the woman to continue. "Reagan approved our request to the coroner to get an official report of what caused the alderman's death, and, as reported on every news channel in the area, the death was ruled a suicide. It all seems pretty through-and-through and typical until you get to the bottom, where the ME listed any and all injuries that would be atypical on a person who had committed suicide."

"I'm guessing the ME completely missed the actual cause of death because he assumed that the bullet had done the job?" When Quinn nodded, Olivia did the same. "It makes sense. When you see a gun wound to the head, you don't really consider that anything else could have done the job. So, what actually killed him, in your opinion?"

"Well, as the trusty former assassin on the team, I looked over every detail that the ME documented. One of the injuries he listed was a rather large wound in the abdomen that caused a laceration to the liver. The ME didn't list whether it was before or after death, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say that that was what actually took out our friendly neighborhood politician."

"You're saying that you think it's foul play?" Olivia questioned, leaning back slightly in her chair.

"If it's not foul play, then the guy stabbed himself and then shot himself. You think anyone enduring the pain and blood loss provided by a stab wound would be able to pull the trigger easily enough to take himself out?" Quinn paused. "I don't think that this was a suicide or an accident. I think that this was pre-meditated and planned. I think that the daughter was right to pull us into this."

"Okay, then." Olivia smiled slightly before biting on her lip. "If you're right and this was pre-meditated, the daughter could be at risk. Grab Huck and go to Reagan's apartment. Have her pack a bag and then come back here. This place is probably safer than a hotel or anyone's house at this moment."

"All right," Quinn agreed quickly, heading for the door and then turning slightly, a smile on her face. "I know that it's probably early and you're definitely not telling people, but you and Jake are going to be kickass parents in my opinion, Liv." She shrugged her shoulders. "You turned into a good person, although God only knows how with the monsters who raised you. That says more about who you are than anyone else has a right to. Remember that." Quinn then headed for the door, leaving Olivia in shock behind her.

The shock wore off the moment that the phone rang, and Olivia smiled slightly when she saw Abby's office number on her screen. She accepted the call immediately, pressing the phone to her ear. "Were you aware of exactly how intuitive Quinn is? Because I was not."

"Liv, that's not why I was- wait, why is Quinn intuitive?"

"I'm pregnant," Olivia stated, causing Abby to go silent. "Only about eight weeks. Jake was the only one I told, but Quinn knows, so I figured I'd tell you before she did." When Abby remained silent, Olivia sighed. "I'm happy about this, Abby, and I'm sure about it and him, so don't interrogate me about my choices again."

"That's not why I called. I, um, I didn't know you were pregnant." Abby breathed in deeply. "Liv, something happened out there, while they were looking for your dad. Shots were fired, and the President and Cyrus have no idea who was injured. There are people missing at the moment, although we don't have a list of the MIA either. I'm telling you this because we don't know where Jake is."

Those were the last words Olivia heard before she was out the door and heading for her car to drive to the White House, Abby still calling her name on the other end of the line through the speaker of the phone that had fallen to the floor the moment the other woman had begun to speak.

There were a few things that remained dependable when it came to Olivia's relationship with the staff of the White House. She was allowed in without question despite the fact that she had forgotten to bring her badge when she had the head security guard call Cyrus. Abby met her before the doors of the Oval Office, a sympathetic look on her face that screamed of apologies she couldn't say aloud in that moment, but Olivia ignored her in favor of snapping at Charlotte to inform the President that she was there. It was only the hope that Fitz would arrive soon that kept her standing and pacing after she was escorted into the White House by the secretary and assured that the President was coming out of a meeting and would soon be on his way.

It didn't take him long to walk through the doors, although he seemed hesitant to approach her. Despite all the history between them, Olivia felt very little other than intrusive and unrelenting panic as she gazed at him with tear-filled eyes, cursing her hormones for taking away her ability to easily and seemingly effortlessly control her emotions and maintain her mask.

"He's not one of the documented injuries, not that that means much," Fitz spoke tiredly. "We got the reports, the lists of casualties, but because of what he once did within the government, Jake isn't added to any lists that could become public record. I have some of my best people working on finding out who was and wasn't injured off the record." He gestured for her to take a seat. "The mission went as planned until the very end, Liv. He didn't dive in there with no idea as to what he was doing. Your father had an informant in my staff. The woman's been detained by the FBI and transferred to the CIA. She's being charged with treason, not that a jury will ever hear her case. She's going to be in prison for the rest of her life for what she did to my men today."

"I used to be able to stomach information like that better," Olivia stated hollowly, drawing his attention. "I mean, my father trains men to kill terrorists and my mother is one, so I used to be able to roll with the punches, even when they were tragic. But now…" She shook her head. "They defend the Republic he always says is his first priority, and he tried to kill them tonight."

"Olivia," Fitz spoke softly. "I know that you are worried out of your mind, and despite what you may think of what I think of Jake Ballard nowadays, I am too. I had the man tortured for a crime he didn't commit, and I've been the one to send him out into the field to be hurt in ways that I can't imagine more than once, so you have to believe that I want him home just as much as you do."

"I don't think that it's exactly the same kind of worry. You're not carrying his child," Olivia murmured, causing Fitz to look at her with wide eyes. "I'm just spilling that secret to everyone today," she muttered with a bitter laugh. "When I imagined telling my friends about this kid, I didn't imagine doing it on the day that his father risked his life to ensure that mine wouldn't be in our child's life."

"I'm, um… congratulations?" Fitz stated, the final remark coming across as a question. "I'm really… I'm happy that you're happy, Liv."

"I need him to be in this baby's life for me to be happy. He can't promise that will happen if he keeps going after my father."

"I know how hard that must make this for you." Fitz paused. "Selfishly, I can't help but think about how hard that makes it for me."

"How does that make it hard for you? Fitz, from what I've heard from Abby, you and Naomi talk every single night. You can't tell me you're jealous. You were more in love with her than you ever were with me, and I only saw you two together during your first campaign." She smiled slightly. "And from that look on your face right now, I'm going to assume that hasn't changed."

"I don't have a look on my face," Fitz protested.

"Oh, yes you do. You have the 'I like a girl' look on your face. It looks the same on every man I've ever met, so denying it would be futile. Also, I'm not leaving this office until Jake either checks in or walks in, so the least you can do is give me some gossip."

Fitz shrugged. "She was Gerry's godmother. She listens to the things that I can't tell Mellie, things about how angry I am and how pissed off I am about the fact that he's gone and it wasn't just a random glitch in his DNA or his immune system." He smiled slightly. "She also listens to how much I worry about you and about Jake."

"Why do you worry about Jake and I?" Olivia questioned, honestly confused.

"Well, I worry about everyone that puts their life on the line for this country and the people they leave behind, but, uh, with you and Jake…" Fitz trailed off, beginning again after a moment. "He's been my friend for years, and you were once much more than that. It's hard to send him out to what could be his death in the name of national security, but it's even harder knowing that you're the one waiting at home for him. I couldn't look you in the eye if I was the reason he came home in a box."

"Well, if you promised to sic a SEAL on the person who did it, then you could."

Fitz chuckled slightly. "I've missed being your friend, Liv. It was so much easier than being…"

"Oh, yeah, the sex ruined everything," Olivia commented candidly. "No offense, but we were better before that began."

"I agree wholeheartedly." Fitz glanced at her abdomen. "How far along are you?"

"Eight weeks, give or take. We went to one of our first ultrasounds today." Olivia smiled slightly. "I think I drove him insane. You know how many diseases children can be born with?"

"I've had three, so yes, I do," Fitz stated amusedly. "What, did you think your kid was going to be born with two heads or something?"

"Okay, if this whole friendship thing is going to work, you can't make fun of me for my extremely legitimate fears. And yes, I did think that, but the tech laughed at me." Olivia sighed. "I didn't think a day that started out as good as this one did could end badly."

"It won't. He'll come home to you. He'd be an idiot not to."

"You should talk to Naomi," Olivia stated suddenly after a few moments of silence.

Fitz shot her a look. "You just made fun of me for how often I talk to Naomi. You do remember that, right? Pregnancy brain hasn't kicked in for you just yet, has it?"

"I don't mean 'hi, how are you, what was your day like', I mean actually talk to her. Talk to her about more than Gerry and the job. I know enough from Jake to know that you confided everything in her once upon a time. Go back to that."

"I'm married, Liv," Fitz reminded her.

"Your wife slept with a terrorist and has downgraded you to friend status, I don't think she'll care." Olivia sighed. "You deserve to be happy, Fitz."

"Who are you and what have you done to Olivia Pope?"

"I'm pregnant and hormonal and completely in love with an idiot. I want Naomi to have the same feeling one day."

"Oh, thanks," Fitz deadpanned.

"Yeah, no problem." Olivia glanced around. "So, how long does it usually take for them to get back?"

"Not long," Fitz responded. "I'll know the moment that they land. It'll take them a bit to get back from Langley, but not as long as it would've if they had just driven to the location and come back the same way."

"You know how I used to make fun of the woman that worried constantly about their husbands or their boyfriends on the campaign trail?" When Fitz nodded, Olivia sighed. "I was a bitch to do that. I think karma's paying me back for it, honestly, because I fell in love with a man that literally throws himself in front of bullets for strangers."

"Well, he's usually worrying a vest that absorbs them when he does, so don't worry too much." When Olivia glared at him, Fitz laughed. "He's very lucky to have you worrying about him so much."

"Oh, he knows," Olivia replied. She sighed once again. "I'm not pressuring you or anything, but I really need my father to not be able to sneak into this kid's nursery in the middle of the night."

"With Jake and Huck in the kid's life? I'm pretty sure his walls and crib are going to be made with Kevlar." Fitz smiled when Olivia snorted. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure he won't have the chance to do that."

"Thank you," Olivia replied.

"Two of my best friends are having a baby, Olivia. I would never do anything to put that baby at risk."

Olivia nodded as she accepted and analyzed his words. She knew what they meant. He was no longer angry or jealous. He was accepting of her relationship, the same way that she would be accepting of his, because their friendship had always meant more to them than anything else they had ever started. And they had finally found the people to show them that what they had started all those years ago certainly hadn't been meant to last.

After a few more minutes of idle chitchat, Fitz's phone sounded at the same time the door to the Oval Office opened. Fitz glanced at the text message while Olivia glanced towards the door, sighing in relief when she caught sight of the man walking through it. "You are not allowed to scare me like that while I'm carrying your child," she scolded as she stood and walked into his arms. "It's not good for the blood pressure."

Fitz spoke up before Jake could respond. "I just got the notification that the team had arrived at Langley. How are you already here?"

"I left separately, considering that, you know, I was never there according to the records," Jake replied. "And I'm sorry about your blood pressure," he stated, turning to Liv. "Did I interrupt anything?" he questioned, glancing back and forth between the two of them.

"I told him about the baby," Olivia informed him, causing his eyes to widen. "He congratulated us."

"You told him about the baby and I haven't been knocked to the ground yet?" Jake deadpanned.

Fitz sighed. "I haven't been that much of a jackass about your relationship, have I?"

"Well, it's not that you've been a jackass, it's that…" Jake trailed off, shrugging. "Yeah, you've been a jackass."

"Well, I'm doing everything in my power to not become Big Gerry, so please warn me when I start acting like an entitled bastard again," Fitz informed the other man dryly. "Olivia was so worried about you that she started playing matchmaker in a relationship she knows nothing about."

"You and Naomi, huh?" When Fitz looked towards him in disbelief, Jake shrugged once again. "What? My mom hosted Thanksgiving for the three of us that year, and she told me at the end of the night that I should put money in if someone had started a betting pool about the two of you."

"Your mother has dirt on the three of you from back in the day?" Olivia asked in surprise. "I want to meet her right now." She shook her head. "Not the point of this conversation, though. Did you put money on it?"

"I did. Lost twenty bucks," Jake replied, causing Fitz to laugh.

Olivia smiled slightly. It was nice to see the two of them like this instead of at each other's throats over her. She then glanced towards Fitz. "You didn't try back then?"

"I did. She wasn't ready." His words were soft and full of ancient pain. "By the time that she was, I had Mellie. There was a time when that meant a lot more to me."

"Maybe you'll both be ready at the same time, and it'll be the right time," Olivia spoke optimistically.

"You've turned her into an optimist," Fitz complained lightheartedly.

"I didn't do that, the hormones did," Jake defended.

"I don't know if a right time exists anymore, Liv. I mean, not to open any old wounds, but you were part of my dating history as of late. Maybe some people don't have a right time."

"Maybe they don't," Olivia allowed. "But if they find the right person, they can make a right time. They should make a right time."

"I'm still married, Olivia," Fitz reminded her.

"Your wife slept with a man that I am all too happy to categorize with terrorists and other unsavory people whose homes can be found in places like Guantanamo," Jake pointed out. "If anyone has a pedestal to climb on, it's you."

"The two of you frighten me when you say the exact same thing without hearing each other say it," Fitz informed them.

"That's something the team's had to get used to," Olivia informed him. "We're friends now. You'll have to get used to it too." She glanced up at Jake. "I need to eat. Well, Baby needs to eat, but I'm the Speaker of the House for him slash her, so I need to eat."

"I'm going to go feed them before I die," Jake stated, causing Fitz to chuckle as he nodded. "C'mon, babe."

As they walked for the door, Fitz called out to them, causing them both to turn around.

"I'm really happy for the both of you," Fitz spoke with feeling. "You have what a lot of people spend their entire lives looking for."

"You could have it, too, Fitz," Olivia informed him softly. "Pick up the phone and call the girl." With that, she turned back towards the door, following Jake to the parking lot and hoping that her newfound friend would take her advice.

"What happened to your face?" she asked as soon as they were in the privacy of her car, finally acknowledging her earlier concerns. "You look like you got into a bar brawl."

"Well, I kind of did. I mean, I wasn't drunk, we weren't in a bar, and the other person was my child's grandfather, but yeah, the same principles probably apply."

"My father did that to your face?" Olivia asked, causing Jake to chuckle.

"You know, Rowan or Eli Pope or whoever the hell he is might be the strangest man on the planet, but it turns out he reacts the same way when faced with the guy who got his daughter pregnant out of wedlock. He actually paused in his escape to get in these hits when I told him about the baby." Jake smiled bitterly. "So much for hoping that the kid could have a sane grandfather."

"Well, he wasn't going to anyway. You've been working this hard so that this child wouldn't have to worry about his grandfather, remember?" When Jake shrugged, Olivia smiled slightly. "Look, maybe it's slightly dysfunctional, this family unit that we've got going on outside the three of us, but if this kid ever needs a grandparent fix, you know as well as I do that Cyrus will adore them."

"Cyrus isn't exactly sane," Jake pointed out.

"Nobody is. That's not what I'm looking for in the people we invite into this kid's life. I'm looking for those that know right from wrong, even if they sometimes choose the latter. I'm looking for people who appreciate the sacrifices that others make so that this child can come into this world. Above all of that, though, I'm looking for people who will love him no matter what he chooses to do in life. With Fitz and Naomi and Abby and Cyrus and the team, I think we've got a rather good group of those kind of people, don't you?"

"Sometimes you're the voice of reason, and it thoroughly confuses me," Jake informed her.

Olivia laughed. "Yeah, it confuses me, too." She smiled. "Will you please get me food before we go home?"

"What do you want?" Jake asked, backing the car out of the spot she had parked it in.

"Baby wants a chicken Caesar salad," Olivia informed him, causing him to chuckle.

"Okay, then Baby will get a Chicken Caesar Salad, even if her Mama is the only one speaking of her wants at the moment."

"It's a boy," Olivia corrected.

"You're eight weeks along, you can't know that yet," Jake reminded her.

"Mother's intuition is telling me that it's a boy."

"Mother's intuition told my mom that I was going to be twin girls until the day that I was born. Mother's intuition isn't always right," Jake informed her, smirking slightly.

"I've shared a bed with you. You kick a lot sometimes. I could understand why she thought there were two of you in there, especially if you started training for that pro soccer career you never had early on. And if it's not mother's intuition, then it's my gut, and my gut is never wrong."

"And right now, your gut is telling you that the baby wants salad?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then."

They traded teasing comments back and forth for the rest of the drive home (and while they waited for their food order at a takeout place they were likely to frequent as Olivia's pregnancy progressed), and Olivia had never felt so lighthearted in her adult life. She only hoped that feeling would last forever. As Jake smiled at her and turned the key in the door to her apartment before scooping her into his arms and carrying her inside, she realized that that wasn't something she really needed to be worrying about. She already knew that the feeling would last forever. All she needed to do now was bask in it. And bask in it she would.


	5. Chapter 5

Olivia was thirteen weeks into her pregnancy when she suddenly came to the realization that the clothing she owned, however loose-fitting it may have been, would not get her through the next six and a half months. While she had been aware that she would eventually have to go shopping for maternity clothes, it wasn't until she was informing Mellie of her pregnancy during a private meeting to discuss Olivia's equally secret involvement in her campaign that she was reminded that most women would have thought of things like this sooner when Mellie listed some of her favorite maternity clothing designers with shops in D.C. It proved that she was not at all like most women, something that Jake reminded her of constantly. The only problem was that he meant it in a good way and yet she felt like a complete and utter idiot for not being able to so easily function in her new role the way that so many expectant mothers did.

Abby was thrilled to accompany her, of course, and even informed her that she had been expecting the phone call. Dr. Naomi Scott, one of Jake's closest friends and the only woman that Fitz had ever looked at publicly with open adoration, was also delighted to come along, having transferred in Olivia's tenth week of pregnancy to Quantico after a long stint as the head trauma counselor at Landstuhl Air Base in Germany. Olivia wasn't sure just what that meant for Fitz, but she was pretty sure that a woman crossing an ocean for him meant more than he would ever admit.

They left early in the morning on a Saturday. Jake was out of town, hunting down a lead on her father that wasn't anticipated to be dangerous, and while Olivia would have been content to sit around the apartment in lieu of continuing their seemingly never-ending hunt for a home to share that they could have ready for living prior to their child's birth, Abby's hopeful expression and Naomi's rational words had, in the end, overruled her opinion. That was the reason that she was standing in the middle of one of the biggest maternity clothing outlets in Washington, glancing in wonder at the fabrics and the colors and the designer tags that covered the walls and filled the room.

"Isabella Oliver is good," Naomi mentioned, pulling Olivia from her reverie. She held up a dark blue dress made of a silky material. "This would work for just about anything. Plus, it's on sale." She beamed when Olivia accepted the item and headed into the dressing room. "So, just how many outfits are we buying today?" she called through the door, nodding her approval moments later when Olivia emerged in the dress. "Ten out of ten," she informed her friend. "Not bad for fifty percent off."

"I'm just looking," Olivia spoke, replying to Naomi's earlier question. "I didn't exactly have a budget when I came in here. I can only buy so much right now, anyway. Some of these things won't fit throughout the entire nine months. Also, the baby's going to be born in the early winter months. I'm not going to want to wear silk when I'm leaving the hospital unless there's about eight layers on top of it."

"Good point," Naomi nodded, holding up a second dress by the same designer. "This one's nice, too."

"Liv, I found the formal wear," Abby gushed as she joined them. She had disappeared the moment she had walked into the store with no explanation. Olivia supposed she now had one. "You should see some of those dresses. They're absolutely beautiful."

"I'll make my way over there," Olivia assured her. "Jake's cousin's wedding reception is black-tie, and none of my gowns are loose-fitting enough to get away with anymore."

"You're willingly going to a Martin wedding?" Naomi questioned, handing the dress over when Olivia extended a hand in her direction. "You do know that this wedding is the biggest social event this year in Virginia, right? The exclusive guest list won't decrease the media attention."

"You're willingly going," Olivia reminded her through the door as she slipped into the red wrap dress. She nodded at her reflection and then went outside to get the approval of her fellow shoppers. When they both nodded, as well, she placed it with the blue dress in the basket.

"Oh, there is nothing willing about it. Fitz and I are going because we've known Toria since she was a kid. Jake's going because she's like a sister to him. You're going because you love Jake. None of us are doing this willingly. We're all doing this because we've chosen to give a damn." Naomi sighed. "You're meeting his family, though. That's a huge step. He doesn't bring people home to Philippa. Ever."

"Should I be happy or terrified that I'm the exception to that rule?" Olivia asked as she eyed the cream-colored lace dress and matching short peplum jacket that Abby was holding up for her approval. "I'll try it," she agreed, causing Abby to beam. She did so, placing it in the basket when she emerged. "One of the three outfits I'll need to attend this wedding has been chosen. Speaking of which, why are there so many breaks for wardrobe changes?"

Naomi laughed. "Jake's mother's family is extremely religious and extremely conservative, which would be fine if not for the fact that every man in the family other than Jake has been guilty of adultery. They have a bad reputation with most conservative media outlets, even if every single one of them will be at this wedding, so the grandchildren made a deal with the matriarch a few years back. She foots the bill for everything, granting her final say in almost everything to do with the ceremony and the reception, but the after-party is completely in the hands of the newlyweds. Don't worry, though. Victoria probably won't have us dancing on tables by the end of the night."

"That's happened before?" Olivia asked incredulously. When Naomi nodded, she breathed in. "What kind of family am I considering marrying into?" When she noticed her slip, it was too late. She looked at the shocked faces of her friends. "I mean…" She shrugged. "Who am I kidding? I meant what I said."

"Okay, then. That's my cue to start dropping subtle hints to Jake, because he's sometimes slow," Naomi joked, causing Olivia to glare. "I'm kidding. Mostly."

"Can we please just look at some more of these dresses, go look at the formal wear, and then get out of here?" When both Naomi and Abby nodded, Olivia sighed. She didn't know if she had dodged that particular bullet as well as she would have liked, but she supposed the truth was going to come out sooner rather than later when she was around people that knew both her and Jake as well as they knew themselves. It was the downfall of growing to consider your friends your family.

Two hours later, Olivia had over a dozen pieces to wear on a daily basis, outfits for all three events being hosted in honor of Victoria Martin and her fiancé, and a rather insistent voice in the back of her head telling her that Naomi was probably going to bring up her slip to Jake at some point. As she glanced down at the bare ring finger of her left hand where it rested on her bump, she realized that she didn't exactly mind that fact. Maybe Naomi Scott coming into their lives was going to work out for everyone. Olivia already knew that having the woman in her corner was going to be one of the best decisions that she had ever made.


	6. Chapter 6

Naomi Scott did not enjoy meddling in people's personal lives. Sure, she was a former trauma counselor turned FBI forensic psychologist and profiler, but the idea of treating her friends the way she did her patients or the criminals she was helping the federal government to catch on a daily basis was not something that appealed to her in the slightest, even if more than one of her friends had used her as a therapist over the years completely by accident. So she wasn't usually one to barge into someone's apartment and inform them of something as important as a need to propose, because she generally believed that most people could figure that out on their own. But this was Jake, and while he was kind and lovable and like another little brother to her, he was the slowest person she had ever met when it came to seeing what was right in front of his eyes if it wasn't a gun or a bomb.

She had had these chats with him before. Well, maybe not exactly these chats. Naomi hadn't known any of his girlfriends well enough to like them for many years, and he had certainly never mentioned that he was considering proposing, so she had let him figure things out for himself for a while. By the time that he had Olivia, she was stationed in Landstuhl and unavailable to interrogate the woman herself, but she knew almost from the get-go that Jake was falling head over heels for her. She also knew that Fitz fancied himself in love with her, as well, because while Fitz didn't trust his national security advisors with information that sensitive, he had always trusted her with it. She wasn't a petty person, but that didn't mean she wasn't relieved when Jake called to tell her that Olivia and he were expecting their first child. It didn't mean that she hadn't breathed in out of pure joy when Fitz had called her and told her that Olivia was one of his closest friends in love with one of his closest friends and nothing more. Everything was as it should be. Well, it would be as soon as Jake got his head out of his ass and went shopping for diamonds.

She bribed him with cookies. That was what she showed up at his apartment with. Olivia was at home, apparently working on a time-sensitive case, and because her blood pressure had been high at her second ultrasound, Jake had decided to stay at home to work on her father's case. So Naomi knocked on the door, a container of snickerdoodles in her hand, and pasted on her best smile when Jake opened the door with a confused look.

"What?" she asked innocently, extending the box in his direction. "I don't feel like we've spent enough time together recently."

"These are bribery cookies," Jake stated, removing several from the box anyway. He extended two in her direction. "Why did you bring me bribery cookies?"

"They are not bribery cookies," Naomi protested as she walked around him and entered the apartment. "Can't a friend just buy a friend some cookies without being accused of having ulterior motives?"

"Yes, some friends can do that, but you cannot," Jake informed her with a smile. "We've known each other for over twenty years, Nai. You took me under your wing when I was fresh out of the Academy and had no idea what I was doing. You buy me food when you want to talk, but you buy me cookies when you want to bribe me to spill my guts. This is one of those times, so let's just enjoy the cookies while accepting that fact, all right?"

"Fine. But just so we're aware, Fitz took you under his wing. I was just always around him at that point." Naomi collapsed onto the sofa and bit into one of the cookies he had given her. "She's nice. Olivia," she elaborated when he glanced towards her with slight confusion. "She's nice. Nicer than any of the other girls I've been introduced to. She's the first one I haven't had to fake a friendship with."

"Well, you already knew she was nice," Jake reminded her. "You were around when she was running Fitz's campaign."

"Yeah, I did know she was nice, but I didn't know if she was good for you. When I knew her, she was sleeping with Fitz. And I honestly don't judge her for that, especially because they're so far away from that at this point, but I had to see if she was good for you." Naomi smiled as she polished off her cookie. "You beam when her name comes up in conversation. She's a whole lot more than just good for you."

"Naomi, why are you telling me all of this?" Jake questioned.

"Because you still haven't done anything about it." Naomi stared at him. "You're in love with this girl, Jake, so in love with her that you'd risk everything for her, have risked everything for her, and yet you're hesitating to take one of the most important steps you can take in life. Why is that?"

"Can Dr. Scott go away so that I can have Naomi back?" Jake deadpanned, sighing when Naomi simply remained the way that she had been before he had cracked the joke. "Nai, you know what marriage looks like to me."

"I do," Naomi agreed. "I know that your mother came from money. I know that she fell for a man that was damaged and he destroyed her while hurting you and Emily in the process. I know that you showed up at his funeral just so you could confirm for yourself that he was gone. I know that those are things that a son should never, ever have to know or to do. But Olivia is not your mother, Jake, and you are not your father."

"They got married because of Emily," Jake reminded her softly. "I don't want to make the same mistakes that he did."

"Your father didn't make a mistake when he married your mother. He made a mistake when he raised a hand to her out of a need for violence, when he hurt your sister just to hurt her, when he pushed you down the stairs when you were three years old. I know why you're scared of taking the final step with Olivia, but I also know that you have a handle on that anger that made you hurt her in the past. You have a handle on that anger because she's the most important person to you." Naomi sighed. "It wasn't right, what you did. I think you know that better than I do. But it doesn't define you. Moments of weakness, even if they cause you to hurt other people, only define you if you let them control your life. You're not healed, Jake. But you are better. And if Olivia pisses you off, you're not going to hurt her. Trust yourself as much as she trusts you." Naomi cracked a smile. "Honestly, she is the formidable Olivia Pope. Don't you think she would have handed your ass to you with one hand tied behind her back by now if she thought for even a second you were endangering her or your child?" Naomi sighed when he still looked unconvinced. "Don't handle her like a suspect or a terrorist anymore. Treat her the way you have been when you weren't terrified out of your mind. Treat her like a woman that you love."

"I never meant to hurt her," Jake whispered.

"I know." Naomi smiled slightly. "And that's what makes you different from your father. When you cause people harm, it's out of pure instinct, and you always feel the guilt of your actions afterwards. That's what makes you more of a man than he ever was. That's what makes you one of the very few men in this world deserving of the love of Olivia Pope. It's what makes you the only man that has it."

"Thank you," Jake murmured. Naomi nodded. "So," he spoke again, clearing his throat, "why are you telling me all of this now?"

"Because she wants a ring and you need to stop being an idiot," Naomi stated bluntly, causing Jake to choke on the bite of cookie he had just taken. "She loves you, Jake. She forgives you. And she told me that she wants to marry you. When I told her about Victoria's wedding and the after-party, she said, and I quote, 'This is the family that I'm considering marrying into?'"

"I have a ring," Jake informed her.

"Good. Then use it." Naomi polished off her cookie. "Have I terrified you into doing what she wants you to do?" When Jake nodded, she smiled. "Good. I need to leave before I eat all of those cookies and completely obliterate my diet. I have to go talk to Fitz about a bill he's considering for mental health, anyway."

Jake nodded, smiling at her as she headed for the door. "Hey, Nai?" he called after her, causing her to turn around. He looked at her seriously. "Don't be an idiot yourself, all right?"

"I'm trying my best," she replied truthfully. "I'm trying my best," she murmured again under her breath as she opened the door and closed it behind her. After interrogating Jake about all his misgivings due to his past, she could only wonder if her best was still good enough and become extremely fearful that perhaps it wouldn't be for all that much longer. Her own issues could be dealt with another day, though. She had to go meet the man at the center of them. After all, it was just impolite to keep the President waiting.


	7. Chapter 7

Olivia stared at the file in front of her, soaking in its contents despite the mental exhaustion that she was feeling. At fourteen weeks pregnant, she should have been at home and sleeping long before the current hour of midnight, but she and her people had just wrapped up their ongoing case by sending a suspect and a confession of murder to David, and her mind was still going a mile a minute. She had tried to coerce herself into believing that she would leave and go home after reading through just a few more files, but she knew that she wouldn't. She was a dedicated person, through and through, and while many people didn't understand why she found so much happiness in her daily work, she knew that she wouldn't be anywhere if not for the people she had met through it. It was the one thing she would not readily sacrifice without questioning someone's motives when it came to her pregnancy.

She knew that Jake worried. Hell, she worried sometimes, too. There hadn't been any bleeding, and she was past the point of miscarriage being an imminent concern, but her blood pressure had been high at her last checkup, and while the doctor had said that that could have been brought on by temporary stress, Olivia knew that nothing about her stress was temporary. She worked a job that required her full attention most days. She had spent more than one night on her sofa after working until two or three in the morning. Until the previous day, she had been privately helping Mellie run her very public campaign. Nothing about her life was calm or peaceful. Nothing about her life screamed that she was capable of commitment. But she was. She just wasn't quite sure if she was ready to let go of her professional control the way that she knew she needed to.

It helped that Quinn hovered constantly. The younger woman made sure she was eating and resting each day. She often volunteered to interview clients when Olivia seemed more tired than usual. Olivia was also fairly certain that she reported to Jake, but she wasn't going to call her out on it. No, when it came to the workplace, Quinn wasn't the member of her team making her nervous; Huck was.

Huck was her family, always had been, and she normally would have told him long before she was in danger of showing and certainly long before her pregnancy was on the cover of every tabloid, but she hadn't. She had a reasonable explanation; Huck had lost his family, and he was dealing with the fact that Kim wouldn't let him around their son. It just seemed cruel to throw the fact that she and Jake would soon be welcoming a child of their own in his face, even if it wouldn't seem that way to either her or Jake. That didn't make it any easier to keep it a secret.

There was a knock on her door, and Olivia glanced up in surprise. She had been relatively certain that Quinn and Huck had already left. She sighed internally as she waved in a concerned Quinn, gesturing for her to close the door behind her.

"I, uh, have my paperwork for the last case to be given to David," the younger woman offered. "I also figured you might be hungry, since we haven't eaten since lunch. Jake said you have a craving for salads, so I got you a chicken caesar from that little bistro that Huck makes fun of you for liking so much." She paused. "And by I, I mean I brought it up here after Jake dropped it off downstairs."

"I'm worrying him," Olivia sighed, causing Quinn to arch an eyebrow. "Let me guess. He's still downstairs waiting to drive me home, and he's not going to leave until I'm in the car with him?"

"Good guess," Quinn confirmed with a smirk. "Huck has his information for David, too, if you wanted to get it and just drop it off on your way in tomorrow."

"Yeah, yeah, of course," Olivia agreed.

"Also, Mrs. Grant's campaign manager called. She got the Senate seat," Quinn informed her.

"I'll call to congratulate her in the morning," Olivia reassured her friend.

Quinn nodded, turning for the door, but something seemed to stop her before she could pull it open. She spun back around, smiling lightly. "He knows, Liv." When Olivia glanced up in confusion, she elaborated. "Huck knows. He knows about the baby." She paused, allowing the information to sink in. "He's a trained assassin. He pays attention to the details. You've been wearing loose-fitting dresses for almost a week. There are photographs of you at a maternity clothing store on every single tabloid in this country, and while we know better than to believe anything those say, the facts are adding up. He also knows Jake. You know how happy Jake has been lately? He knows you're the only one who makes Jake that happy, and you're also the only one who makes Jake that concerned. He knows, Liv. All you're doing now is avoiding telling him so that he won't be hurt, but he's not hurt. He's happy for you. Let him be publicly happy for you before it kills us all." With that, Quinn opened the door and headed for her office to gather her things.

Olivia paused for a moment out of pure shock before standing to do the same. She did so in a daze before heading for her office door and making her way towards the front door. She changed her mind at the last moment, turning around and heading towards Huck's office.

She knocked lightly on the door. She didn't need to; she knew from living with Jake that Huck had known she was coming as soon as she had neared the door. Still, she knocked. It seemed only appropriate for the situation.

"Liv," Huck greeted mildly. "Shouldn't you be at home? It's late."

"You know, don't you? About the pregnancy?" She only paused for a moment, waiting for his quick nod. "I didn't keep it from you to hurt you. I just didn't know how to tell you. With what's going on with you and Javi and Kim..."

"Liv, what's going on in my life doesn't keep me from being happy about what's going on in yours." Huck looked her straight in the eyes. "You and Jake are good for each other. He's happy with you. The people who have been in his position, they're-they're haunted. You saw it with your father. You see it with me. We are broken. He was too. But somehow, you and that baby have put him back together." Huck smiled then, a genuine smile that she couldn't help but return. "You're my family. He is too. I can be happy for my new family while grieving for my old one."

"Thanks, Huck," Olivia replied with a sniffle. "Sorry, it's the hormones."

"It's fine," Huck responded. "You should go home, though. Babies need more sleep than their workaholic mothers."

"I'm not a-oh, all right," Olivia sighed, turning around. "Good night, Huck. You should go home too." She turned for the door before turning back. "Hey, Huck? Kim'll come around. She'd be an idiot not to."

"She's no idiot," Huck stated softly, causing Olivia to smile.

"Exactly." She headed for the front door, finally making her way towards the elevators and riding down to the ground floor.

Jake was leaning against the car, his hands buried in his jeans pockets. He removed one and held it up. "I know you think that I'm being overprotective, but I worried about you a long time before you were pregnant and I'll worry about you a long time after, because I love you and that's what you do when you love some-mmph."

Olivia smiled against his lips before pulling away. "I love you," she whispered. "You make me feel safe and you make me so happy, and you've never once asked me to change, even though I know I have tendencies that must drive you insane. And sometimes I just need to be reminded of how lucky I am that I have you. Thank you for putting up so often with my thanklessness."

"It's no problem, babe." Jake wrapped an arm around her shoulders and headed towards the other side of the car. "You're worth all of it and more."

"And that won't change in ten years?" Olivia murmured.

Jake looked in her eyes seriously after he had settled her in the passenger seat. "That won't change ever."


	8. Chapter 8

Olivia Pope was not an emotional person. She never had been. In her line of work, allowing yourself to feel things rarely led to anything good. And so, she had closed herself off from the world at a young age, long before her mother had died and her father had turned into a shell of himself, long before Edison or Fitz or Jake. It wasn't until she had realized how selfish it was to put up her walls, to keep the people who loved her, who wanted her, damaged or not, out of her life, that she had finally begun to change. The moment that she had decided to change almost perfectly coincided with two pink lines appearing on a white stick while she panicked in her bathroom, so this really shouldn't have surprised her. It really, really shouldn't have. But somehow, for some strange reason, it still did.

She was almost fifteen weeks pregnant. Her hormones made her cry at the drop of a hat, which wasn't the best news when it came to her work. She had nearly lost a client the day before when she had gone off on him for not caring enough about his daughter, and Quinn had been required to diffuse the situation while Olivia hid out in her office and Jake sat at the end of her sofa, his eyes going back and forth between the classified file in his hands and her face. She had insane cravings that, as of yet, hadn't become disturbing with their randomness, but they still decided to let themselves known at inopportune times. She was a mess. A mess that had begun to become a complete cliché that cried over car commercials because of the baby that the parents placed in the backseat and watched grow up there. And honestly, that was probably the dealership's fault. In fact, she was considering suing on behalf of all the other hormonal mothers being forced to watch the same scene. It was only when she came to the realization that that was equally ridiculous that she flopped back against the bed she had been standing in front of with an exhausted sigh and placed one hand on her slightly protruding belly.

Jake was still at work, as he usually was on Thursdays (to allow him to return home early on Fridays), and wouldn't return home until around midnight. She had already traded in her cream outfit for a navy one after panicking over the bride hating her, and her gowns for the other wedding festivities taking place over the next two days had been painstakingly ironed and packed away to be loaded into the car in the morning. She was completely ready for the wedding. Well, aside from the fact that she wasn't at all ready for the wedding, which was probably why she was crying over commercialization of families and eating gummy bears at ten o'clock at night.

She didn't do families. She never had. Her own was so dysfunctional that she was pretty sure they deserved their own chapter in the Guinness Book of World Records, and neither Edison nor Fitz had wanted her to be within a thousand feet of their parents unless absolutely necessary. Jake wasn't pushing her to meet his, hadn't done so at any point, but she felt as though it was something she needed to do before she was writhing in agony in a bed on the maternity floor or carrying her baby into the National Cathedral in a gown that had apparently been used for every member of the Martin family since the late nineteenth century. She was leaning into the fear. If it led to a happy ending, she could handle leaning into the fear, even if the process of doing so was slowly leading to a panic attack.

The closing of the door pulled her from her thoughts, and it was only a few moments before Jake was standing in the doorway to the bedroom, a fond smile on his lips. "It's late, babe," he observed, kicking off his shoes and settling on the bed next to her. "Why are you still awake?"

"I was thinking Aaron," she commented randomly. "If it's a boy. After Aaron Burr."

"Second Vice President of the United States?" She nodded, and Jake shrugged. "I didn't know you liked him."

"I have no formed opinion of him. I just like the name, and it has historical significance." Olivia scooted closer to him, settling her head on his shoulder. "If it's a girl, I like the name Eleanor. After Eleanor Roosevelt."

"Eleanor's a strong name," Jake agreed tiredly. He sighed against her hair. "I'm going to stop him, Liv. I'm going to get your father. He's not going to be around to know whether we have an Aaron or an Eleanor."

"Jake," Olivia breathed, rolling over onto her side to face him. "If the choice is letting him live or watching you die, you have to know what my decision is going to be. You and Huck won't let anything happen to this baby; I know that. But I don't want anything to happen to you. I don't want you to be a picture on the wall that I talk to because you're not around. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah. Yeah, this is one of the rare times that I do." Jake smirked when she rolled her eyes. The expression softened into a smile as he brushed a curl away from her eyes. "You're panicking, aren't you? You're worrying about meeting my family."

"Jake, you are Catholic. Your entire family is Catholic. Do I really need to explain to you why I'm panicking? I'm pretty sure the Vatican doesn't support babies out of wedlock."

"Sweetheart, my priest is not going to hate you. Even if he is angry about the baby, he preaches forgiveness on a daily basis. He can't exactly glare at you through the service. And yes, my family's traditional, but they're not so much so that they'll dislike you for getting pregnant out of wedlock. They're all very excited, actually. Most of them thought that I would never settle down." Jake smiled slightly. "I thought the same thing until I met you."

"You're very mushy today," Olivia sighed, burrowing her head into his shoulder. "I love you."

"Love you, too," he murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Always means always."

"Always means always," she whispered back, smiling when he kissed the tip of her nose. Always was sounding pretty good right about then. In fact, it had for a while. She just hoped that nothing screwed up that promise before they made good on it.


	9. Chapter 9

Richard and Alexandra Martin had worked for the entirety of their lives to ensure that their three children would want for nothing, and that became quite obvious to Olivia fairly quickly as she and Jake made their way towards the immaculate house situated at the center of the Martin Estate in Fairfax County, Virginia. Richard Martin was a prominent politician in Virginia who had worked alongside Bush in the past and currently acted as the Attorney General to the State, while his wife was the perfect wife and mother in the eyes of the public. Their two sons were both officers in different branches of the military, and their only daughter was an extremely popular federal prosecutor in Washington. Their future son-in-law was one of the most successful stockbrokers on Wall Street despite his young age. There didn't seem to be anything gilded about the image they were presenting to the world. Then again, Olivia had grown up in a family that could have trademarked that old adage that everything is not always what it seems. Time would have to tell her the truth.

Jake cleared his throat from the driver's seat, and she glanced over with a sheepish smile. "Sorry," she breathed. "I guess I just got lost in my thoughts. I'm assuming we need to get out now?" she questioned, glancing towards the front of the manor and catching sight of the dozens of people dressed to the nines that had gathered since they had arrived. "Is your mother out here?" she asked quietly.

"Yes and yes," he replied, climbing out of the vehicle and slamming his door shut before circling around to open her door and help her to the ground. He placed a hand on the small of her back. "You look stunning, babe. Absolutely stunning," he murmured as he closed her door and took her hand in his, leading her to the crowd of waiting people with a confident gait and smile.

The first person to catch sight of them was the bride. Dressed impeccably in what appeared to be a bespoke design, Victoria Martin looked as though she had just walked directly out of a fairytale. Her blonde hair had been pulled back into one of the most beautiful chignons Olivia had ever seen, and her ears, neck, and wrists were practically dripping with diamonds. Her gown was made of a material that shimmered with every step she took, and her clutch and heels offset one another perfectly. Her makeup was dark and yet still appropriate, and the beaming smile in place on her face seemed completely genuine. She exuded class and elegance. And yet the moment she caught sight of Jake, she let out a squeal that made Olivia want to burst into laughter as she watched the other woman hurry in their direction.

"Jake, thank God you're here!" she called as she hugged him tightly. She lowered her voice. "Mom won't stop talking about babies. Which is fine, you know, babies are great and yay for the two of you, it's really awesome, but Gabe and I haven't talked about babies as much as Mom and I have talked about babies, and I feel like that is more of a problem than is being broadcast. But if more people start showing up, then maybe Mom will stop talking about babies and I can simply enjoy the night before my wedding. What do you think the chances of that happening are?" she sighed.

"I wouldn't bet on them," Jake replied, gesturing towards Olivia. "Victoria, this is Olivia. Olivia, this is Victoria. I promise not every member of my family is as crazy as she is."

"Bite your tongue, because I'm your favorite," Victoria replied, causing Jake to burst into laughter.

"I don't have favorites," he countered, shaking his head at her.

"I'm your favorite," Olivia reminded him with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, that's different. You're…you. Totally different set of circumstances." He shook his head at Victoria's glare. "You know what? Let's go say hi to Mom. Hi, Mom!" he greeted when Philippa spun in their direction. "This is Olivia. Olivia, this is my mother, Philippa Martin," he introduced with a fond smile.

Philippa Martin was just as beautiful as she always had been, and it was obvious to Olivia almost immediately just where it was that Jake had gotten his looks and kindness from. The woman practically beamed at Olivia, and it was impossible not to smile back even with nervous butterflies still flapping away in her belly. She waved away the hand that Olivia extended in her direction and brought her into a warm embrace. "It's nice to finally meet you. When my son told me I was going to be a grandmother, I was a little hesitant to be excited because I had never met the child's mother, but I can already tell that you're exactly the kind of woman that I've prayed my son would find." She pulled back. "How far along are you? Jake was depressingly and annoying vague on the phone."

"I wasn't vague, I was in shock," Jake defended. "You were the first call I made after I found out."

Olivia shook her head in amusement. "I'm fifteen weeks," she replied. "We find out what we're having next week. Jake is insistent it's a girl."

"You want a daughter? Have you seen this child's mother? You wouldn't be able to buy enough baseball bats to beat away the boys if her DNA combined with yours in a little girl," Philippa informed her son.

"Damn it," Jake muttered under his breath. "I hadn't thought of that."

Olivia and Philippa both laughed. "Please, come in," Philippa invited with a warm smile. "Fitz and Naomi are both inside. They look smashing, as usual. Jacob," she spoke quietly, drawing the attention of her son, "I think if you had made that bet more recently, you wouldn't be out twenty dollars right now."

"I think the same thing," Jake replied, causing Olivia to chuckle.

It wasn't hard to find Fitz and Naomi. Philippa was right; they were smashing. Naomi was dressed in a ruby red dress that shimmered with every step she took, and Fitz was looking at her with thinly-veiled adoration. They looked so much like a happy couple that Olivia felt her eyes filling with tears of happiness. It was nice to see others getting their own happy endings.

"Olivia, you look gorgeous!" Naomi gushed, hugging her tightly. "You and your sidekick are the belles of the ball here. Well, after Toria, of course." She glanced around. "Speaking of, has anyone seen the blushing bride?"

"She's outside," Philippa informed her, causing Naomi to nod and head in that direction, waving off Fitz when he offered to accompany her. "May I speak to you candidly?" Philippa asked the man in front of her, causing Fitz's eyes to widen to the point of him resembling a deer in the headlights. "Why on earth haven't you asked that girl to something more important than a private pre-wedding dinner that everyone was expecting the two of you to attend together anyway? Your wife is out of the picture, Fitz. You're not a bad man for wanting a happy ending."

"You sound like your future daughter-in-law." When Olivia's eyes widened, Fitz cursed under his breath. "Maybe Presidents shouldn't speak so candidly. Sorry, Jake. Uh, if the three of you will excuse me." He cleared his throat and rushed in the direction of the door that Naomi had just walked through.

"Well!" Philippa clapped her hands together. "This is going to be an interesting weekend, I'm certain of it."

Olivia simply nodded. Oh, it was going to be an interesting weekend, all right. She just wasn't absolutely certain whether that was a g


	10. Chapter 10

It was well past one in the morning when Olivia and Jake finally stumbled back into their private suite in the local hotel that had come highly recommended, both of them so exhausted that their eyes were struggling to remain opened. Olivia headed immediately for her suitcase, removing a set of pajamas from the bag before heading for the bathroom. She showered quickly, removing the beauty products from her hair and face with little regret despite the knowledge that the makeup could've easily lasted through the wedding the next day and removing it had cost her at least half an hour of sleep. She then combed through her hair until it was halfway manageable and dressed in the cotton pajamas that Naomi had given her several weeks before. Shrugging at her reflection, she opened the door to the bathroom and padded towards the bed, smiling at Jake as she settled on top of the sheets next to him.

He grinned back at her. "My family wasn't awful, huh?" he asked, closing the book settled in his lap and giving her his full attention after voicing the question. "Eighty percent of the terror in your eyes before you met Mom wasn't even necessary."

Olivia scoffed. "I'm not exactly the kind of girl that goes home to meet the boy's mom," she pointed out, interlacing their fingers. "Much less the girl that goes home to meet the boy's mom while nearly four months pregnant."

"Fair point," Jake conceded. "Well, how was it? Your first experience meeting the boyfriend's mother? Did she make you want to run to Antarctica and raise our baby on a penguin herder's salary?"

"You need to stop spending so much time around Fitz and Naomi. Their corniness is rubbing off on you," Olivia teased, causing him to glare at her playfully. "No, I don't want to run off to Antarctica and become a penguin herder. I'm not completely sure that's a real profession, actually." She trailed off, smiling softly. "Your mom is great, Jake. She's kind. She's welcoming. She's… I see where you get it. When you told me about your dad, I didn't really… but I see it now. You're a Mama's boy." She grinned at him. "I am very glad that you're a Mama's boy. Your mom's kind of awesome." She sighed, her eyes clouding over. "She does make me feel like a bad person, though. Not by anything she said," she rushed to explain when Jake opened his mouth, concern in his eyes. "It's just… she's been through so much more than me, you know? She had you and your sister so young, and your father was awful to her, and she still… she smiles, and she laughs, and she welcomes people she's never met into her life with open arms. I don't think that I have that kind of trust in people anymore."

"You do. When push comes to shove, you do." Jake paused. "My mother's seen the worst of human nature, so she tries to be the best of it for other people. She loves you because I do. That's enough for her. That's all the reason that she needs." He paused once again. "Em, you know, she was quiet, and she was shy, and she was… lost, a lot of the time in her thoughts or in the moment, but she was exactly like Mom. Open, loving. She had every reason not to be, and yet…" He blinked, and Olivia reached for his other hand. He smiled at her sadly as he raised their joined hands to his lips to press a kiss to her palm. Olivia allowed her hand to remain against his cheek as he continued to speak. "I think about her all the time, you know. How she'd feel about me, who I've become. How she'd feel about you and the baby." He smiled adoringly at her. "And then I realized one day that I already knew. She would love you, Liv. She would think, like I do, that you're the best thing that ever happened to me." Jake's voice broke slightly. "Sometimes, I'm so mad at her because I know how she'd feel about you and this baby. I just want to go to her grave and yell at her, you know, ask her what the hell she thought she was doing when she did what she did. Ask her if she even thought about the people that would never get to meet her, the sister-in-law and the nieces and nephews that didn't even know she existed that got left behind because of the decision that she made. And then I feel guilty, because she was in an impossible situation, and she saw no way out of the pain, and I can't even begin to understand what she was going through, so I don't get to judge her. But I still… since the moment you told me you were pregnant, I've been trying to come to terms with the fact that Aunt Emily is never going to be anything more to this kid than pictures and memories that aren't theirs. And I don't know how to deal with that."

"You don't talk about it," Olivia murmured, her eyes wide and full of tears, her lips shaking as they formed the words. "You didn't tell me any of that."

"Because I love you, and I don't want you to think you're not enough for me," Jake replied, blinking rapidly. "You are enough for me. You… if not for you, I can guarantee that I would not be this person. I wouldn't be able to look myself in the eyes. And I don't want to weigh you down with memories that you never got to be a part of and grief that you never experienced."

"Jake," she whispered, swiping at her cheeks, "I love you, too, but don't think you have to keep this from me. I didn't know her. That's a fact. But that doesn't mean that she's not worth knowing about." She smiled slightly. "She was your mother's kid, right? She was probably as awesome as the two of you are."

"Yeah, she was," Jake replied, his eyes focusing on some point in the distance.

"Yeah," Olivia murmured. She grinned slightly. "And I think I know enough to know that she would have slapped you upside the head a second ago for referring to me as her sister-in-law."

"What?" Jake questioned, his eyes suddenly flying towards hers.

She chuckled. "I mean, you haven't even asked me. It's just a bit presumptuous, that's all."

"Liv, you're implying that you want me to ask you," Jake informed her slowly.

"Jake, we are having a baby. We practically live together. Both of those decisions were made by me. It would be great if you could do the proposing part. I mean, I can do it, but I don't know your ring size. I could have Huck make something out of a parachute cord, I mean, that's romantic. I think it is, at least."

"Olivia," Jake hissed, causing her to burst into laughter. "Don't even joke about that. My mother will kill me if I don't give you the perfect proposal."

"Well, that's the thing, though. You'll be asking, and I'll be answering, and that'll make it perfect no matter how you do it. I mean, it would be perfect even if you did it in a hotel bed while we both fight exhaustion."

"But I don't have the right with me," Jake whined.

Olivia's eyes widened. "There's a ring?"

Jake scoffed. "Of course there's a ring. I bought it before we left for Zanzibar, or, you know, wherever we were that was near Zanzibar."

"And Fitz and Naomi know about this ring? That's why Fitz brought something up about future daughter-in-law?"

"Well, Naomi knew about the ring, so yeah, it's safe to say that Fitz knows about the ring. Those two should just really put everyone out of their misery, by the way. I mean, did you notice…"

"Jake, stop rambling," Olivia ordered, causing his words to come to a sharp halt. "I want to marry you. Do you want to marry me?"

"Yes," Jake replied with no hesitation.

"And I want to marry you. And there is a ring, it's just not here."

"Yes."

"I don't need a ring to say yes," she murmured, causing him to dart a glance at her face. "I mean, I'm sure it's beautiful and I know I'll love it, but I don't need a ring to say yes. So ask. Ask so that I can say yes."

He nodded. "Olivia Pope, will you marry me?"

"Yes."


	11. Chapter 11

It was still dark later that morning when Olivia stretched her arms above her head and exhaled deeply, her eyes fluttering open as she collapsed back against the pillows. Jake was still sleeping soundly next to her, his face buried in their shared pillow as he slumbered. She rolled onto her side, her eyes focusing in on his facial features as a wave of undiluted bliss washed over her. She was happier than she could ever remember being, and the man next to her was responsible for all that joy.   
They had stayed up until well past two in the morning talking about the future, and when Olivia had finally managed to calm herself enough to rest, it was nearly four. A quick glance at the clock informed her that she hadn’t even slept for two full hours, but the baby was just as awake as she was, and while the wedding wasn’t scheduled to start until early in the afternoon, Olivia was much too aware of just how much effort went into preparing for a wedding after serving as a bridesmaid over a dozen times in the weddings of friends over the years. There was also the matter of dealing with the press, which was no small job. 

Olivia was still lost in her thoughts when Jake began to shift next to her ten minutes later. She smiled slightly as he blinked sleepily, his exhausted smile still full of happiness as he beamed up at her. She breathed in when he pressed a kiss to each of her fingertips before cupping his cheek in her hand and pulling his face towards hers. With a hungry kiss and a quiet greeting, the first day of the rest of their lives together began, and they allowed themselves to enjoy their alone time before they finally bothered to get the day officially started. 

By the time that they were dressed and ready for the day, it was nearly eight o’clock. They had plans to meet with Fitz and Naomi for breakfast at nine before traveling to the church to help Victoria get ready, so they headed for the door and made their way down into the hotel’s dining space. Olivia almost immediately caught sight of Naomi and Fitz, and she had to bite her lip to keep from smiling as she caught sight of just how close they were to one another despite the separate chairs that they were seated in. She nudged Jake, causing him to laugh lightly as they made their way towards the table. Naomi was beaming and chatting excitedly when they took their seats, Jake holding Olivia’s out for her. It didn’t take long for the chatter to be cut off with five words that no one had expected to hear come from Olivia Pope’s mouth. 

“Jake and I are getting married.” She spoke the words casually, as if she was commenting on the menu. The reactions of her dining partners made her blasé attitude worth it. Fitz nearly choked on the chunk of pineapple he had just begun to chew, Naomi reached immediately for her class of water as she began to cough up orange juice, and Jake sat there silently, his eyes the only dead giveaway of his happiness as he calmly took a bite of the yogurt that Naomi had pushed in front of him when he had taken his seat. 

Naomi was the first to recover from her incident. “Despite our reactions, we are very happy for you.” She smiled widely. “I didn’t think it would happen this weekend, but I called this the moment that he told me about you, Liv. And now that I know you, I’m very glad that you’re the one he chose to do this with. And I’m not going to cry, I promise.” Regardless of her words, Naomi blinked rapidly several times before smiling even more brilliantly. “Jake, you’re getting married!” 

“I was actually expecting Fitz to have the bigger reaction,” Jake murmured to Olivia, causing her to laugh slightly. “Thanks for the enthusiasm, Naomi.” He turned towards his other friend. “You’re not going to cry, are you?” he asked amusedly, an air of wariness in his tone. 

“No, I’ll let Naomi be the overly emotional person at the table for now. Nai, you do realize she’s almost halfway through a pregnancy, right? She’s not crying. What’s your excuse for the waterworks?” Fitz teased, causing Naomi to glare at him. “Now that I’ve gotten over my own irrational pettiness, I can see what everyone else always has, and I’m very happy for the both of you. Your child will be very lucky to have parents like you in his or her life.” He cleared his throat. “You might want to hold off on the engagement announcement until after the wedding, though. Otherwise, Victoria might kill both of you.” 

“She wouldn’t kill Liv,” Jake assured him mildly, taking another bite of his omelet. “But we won’t steal their spotlight.” 

“Yeah, I want at least one member of his family to like me by the end of this weekend,” Olivia joked, causing Naomi and Fitz to laugh. They all conversed for a bit longer, talking about everything from the weather outside to the political atmosphere of the country. By the time that Olivia and Jake finally made their way back upstairs to change for the wedding, they were hard-pressed for time. They were also still deliriously happy. 

The wedding was scheduled to begin at precisely one o’clock, so Olivia and Jake made their way to St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Fairfax at around eleven. Olivia’s peplum jacket and lacy dress were both in appropriate shades of navy blue, and her hair was pulled back into a loose chignon that brought attention to her highlighted face. She clutched Jake’s hand nervously as she climbed from their vehicle once they arrived at the church, ignoring the waiting reporters as she laughed at his murmured commentary. While he wasn’t in the wedding, there were still things to be done, and Jake left her to her own devices in the lobby of the church after pressing a quick kiss to her cheek and making her promise to call him if she had any issues during the time that they were apart. She settled in one of the pews, her eyes focused on the sights around her. When in places such as this, it became glaringly obvious to her just why she believed that there was a higher power. This amount of peace couldn’t be produced by human thought alone. 

Olivia wasn’t alone in the chapel for long. Philippa made her way towards her, a soft smile on her face. “My son told me you were in here. I informed him that it was awfully rude to leave the mother of his child to her own devices in a new place.” The older woman settled on the pew next to her. “I know that last night was probably overwhelming for you, but I wanted to let you know that we were all delighted to meet you. We’ve been waiting for Jake to bring someone home for years, and he speaks so highly of you that we couldn’t wait to find out if you were as amazing as he said. I can already tell that you are.” She smiled again. “I want to thank you privately for making my son so happy, Olivia. I didn’t do all that I could to ensure that he was shown how to be happy when he was a child, but it’s obvious that he now knows what happiness is, and I think the credit for that belongs to you.” 

Olivia smiled sympathetically. “Ms. Martin, you did the best you could. Every happy memory Jake has ever shared with me about his childhood involved you and his sister. That counts for something.” She glanced around the chapel. “He has always believed in this, in something bigger than him. Before I met him, before I saw the...” She trailed off, her smile widening. “He’s good. Your son is a good man, despite what he’s gone through. He’s the reason that I believe in something bigger than all of us, because simple evolution didn’t create a man like him. He has unrelenting faith and shows acceptance unlike anyone else I’ve ever met. You raised him. That’s worth something. And as the woman that loves him, I want to thank you. Thank you for fighting for him so many times, Ms. Martin.”

Philippa smiled. “He’s worth fighting for, isn’t he?”

Olivia returned the smile. “Yes, he is.” 

They both turned at the sound of Jake walking towards them. “Okay, ladies, it’s time to go calm down the bride….” He trailed off, glancing between them. “Did I just intrude on something serious?”

“No intrusion,” Philippa replied. “Jake, please tell your girlfriend to call me anything other than Ms. Martin. You’re family now, Olivia. It’s Philippa or Pippa, never Ms. Martin. In this family, that would get extremely confusing.” 

“Sorry,” Olivia apologized quietly, causing Philippa to smile at her. “Jake, why do you look sheepish?” she asked suspiciously as she turned towards her fiancé. 

“I’m trying to make a decision,” he replied, hesitating for another moment before speaking quickly. “Mom, Liv and I got engaged last night.” 

Philippa glanced back and forth between them before nodding. “I’m very happy for the both of you. My instinctual reaction will follow the after-party this evening. For now, let me say what no one else can until they know. Congratulations.” She smiled at Olivia. “Welcome to the family, sweetheart.” She then headed for the dressing rooms that held the bridal party, leaving Jake and Olivia to stare at one another. 

“Well, that was easier than I thought,” Jake commented, extending his hand in Olivia’s direction. “Ready to go face the madness?” 

“What do you think I do for a living?” The rhetorical question made Jake laugh as he pulled her along behind him. “We’re not going to tell her that Fitz and Naomi knew before her, are we?” 

“Well, I don’t have a death wish and neither do you, so…no. No, we are not.” Jake glanced behind him. “You doing okay?”

Her reply was completely honest. “I’m doing amazingly, Jake.” 

The smile that took over his face was impossible to ignore, and Olivia beamed up at him as he walked in the direction of the dressing room, talking about this and that the entire time. Happiness felt better than she had ever imagined possible. 

An hour and a half later, Jake and Olivia had finally managed to escape the antics of his cousins and aunts in the dressing room. They were seated in the second pew on the left side, both facing forward, taking in the sights around them. The groom began to enter moments later, his smile full of hope, and Olivia couldn’t help but smile back. It was nice to see honest love on days such as this. When the bride began to walk down the aisle with her father, the dam broke, and Jake chuckled quietly as he extended a tissue in her direction. “I thought you weren’t a hopeless romantic,” he murmured as the priest began to speak. 

Olivia shook her head. “This romance isn’t hopeless,” she murmured back, and Jake smiled down at her for a moment before they both turned their attention to the blissful couple before them. 

The ceremony lasted less than an hour, and the guests immediately made their way towards their hotels to change into more formal attire before attending the reception. This gave the photographers the opportunity to snap official photographs of the wedding party and the guests prior to the after-party. When it came time for the after-party to begin, Olivia changed for the third time, slipping into a scarlet gown and ruby jewelry and pulling her hair into a chignon. She couldn’t help but feel beautiful as Jake’s eyes found her and never left as she made her way down the stairs. 

The after-party was much more intimate, with the couple sharing a dance at the beginning before the throwing of the bouquet and garter commenced. Olivia unwillingly made her way onto the floor for the bouquet toss at the insistence of Jake’s mother and aunt, her eyes widening in shock when she caught the assortment of flowers easily. When she looked over at Jake, he only winked, extending a hand in her direction and pulling her into his arms for a dance as soon as she was within his reach. As she rested her ear against his chest and listened to the steadiness of his heartbeat, she realized that this was what true bliss felt like, and she couldn’t be happier to finally be given the chance to experience it.


	12. Chapter 12

It turned out that being pregnant and staying up past midnight two days in a row was not the best decision that one could make. Olivia became increasingly aware of this fact as she pried open her eyes the next morning to the insistent sound of the alarm clock on her bedside table and caught sight of the flashing numbers that informed her that she and Jake had returned to their hotel room only five hours before after staying at the after-party until the early hours of the morning. She groaned quietly as she silenced the device, turning back towards Jake and burying her face in his bare chest as she tried to grab a few more moments of sleep before starting her day. 

The after-party had been an eye-opening experience for many reasons. After catching the bouquet and dancing around the room in a rush of movement and laughter for several minutes, she had taken the time to speak to all of Jake’s family members. While she had spent enough time around Philippa to know just how accepting the Martins were of newcomers, she was hesitant to spend her evening speaking to strangers. They were as accepting as Jake had assured her they would be, however, with many of them thanking her for bringing happiness to Jake’s life. By the time she and Jake left the party early in the morning, she was confident that the family she was marrying into was one of the best ones out there. 

They had collapsed into bed as soon as they had arrived back in the hotel, but Olivia had learned that sleeping while pregnant was much more difficult than she had anticipated. She hadn’t been able to get comfortable, which had led her to finally give up and leave Jake to sleep while she played on her phone next to him. It said something about how familiar they were with each other that he didn’t even flinch when she shifted into a seated position on the mattress. By the time she had finally managed to settle back into sleep, it was nearly six in the morning, which meant that she had only been able to get an hour of shut-eye before the alarm clock went off. While such a thing would annoy her in most situations, the time that she had spent awake in the bed next to Jake had allowed her to come to some conclusions that allowed her to look towards the future with hopefulness and happiness for one of the first times in her life. 

Jake shifted next to her, pulling her from her thoughts and holding her closer to his side. “I think that we need to get up,” he murmured into her hair, chuckling and brushing a soft kiss to her temple when she groaned and tried to further disappear into the comforter. “I know, babe, but we have brunch with my mother at nine, and I don’t want to explain to her that we were late because we couldn’t bring ourselves to get out of bed. That’s just an awkward conversation to have with the woman who gave me life, and it’s not a conversation I plan on having with her today.” 

Olivia nodded begrudgingly, pulling away slightly. “I know. I just like this bed. It’s like our own personal cocoon of safety.” Jake chuckled at her explanation. “Laugh all you want, but the world out there is full of people that want something from us. Here, it’s…peaceful and quiet and safe. I like how it feels when it’s just you and me and no one is interrupting us or demanding things of us. It’s a rare feeling, Jake, you have to admit that.” 

Jake shrugged. “It is, but that can change. We don’t have to live up to the expectations of strangers, Olivia. The people that matter know the people that we are, and that’s all that matters.” He pressed a final kiss to her temple before untangling himself from the sheets and her limbs. He chuckled when she pouted at him, leaning down to kiss the tip of her nose before grabbing clothes and heading into the bathroom to shower. Olivia decided that wasn’t an activity he should do alone. After all, he could slip. It was very dangerous.   
By the time that they were showered and ready for the day, they had less than ten minutes to get down the stairs to meet Philippa for breakfast. They spent a few more moments in their hotel room before venturing downstairs. 

Philippa was seated at one of the small tables, her hair pulled back into a sleek chignon and her blue dress and matching pumps the epitome of fashion for women her age. Her makeup was immaculate, as were her manicured fingernails. Despite her appearance, she beamed the moment that they caught sight of her, waving them in her direction with a smile that didn’t falter as she stood to greet them. 

“Well!” she said when they had all taken their seats moments later. “I know that you’re both probably exhausted, but I would really like to talk to you about the wedding now that Victoria is officially married. I cannot promise that I will not burst into tears.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she began to blink rapidly. “My baby is getting married!” she said loudly, attracting the attention of several other customers. She covered her mouth and muttered an apology across the table to her amused son and future daughter-in-law. “When is the big day? Have you talked about that at all?” she asked next, thanking the waiter that quickly approached with their drinks and then hurried away with their orders. “I know that you just got engaged yesterday, but it’s never too early to plan, you know.” 

“I was thinking tomorrow,” Olivia spoke before Jake had a chance to. She soon flinched as two pairs of surprised eyes turned in her direction at once. “I looked up the rules for marriage in the District of Columbia when I wasn’t able to sleep last night, and you can get married the same day that you apply for the license. I meant to bring it up to Jake, but I didn’t have a chance to this morning.” She turned her attention towards her still-shocked fiancé. “I don’t need a big wedding to know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and with everything going on in the world and between the people we’re close to, there isn’t anything I want more than to be your wife right now, and…okay, will you please say something?” 

“Yes, Jake, please tell the woman that she’s brilliant so that I can start scrounging through my closet as soon as we finish this meal,” Philippa piped up from across the table. “I think that it’s a wonderful idea, Olivia. It seems very fitting for the two of you.” 

Olivia nodded, her attention still on Jake. The man cleared his throat, taking a sip of his water before speaking. “I think that it’s fast.” When he caught sight of Olivia’s facial expression, he quickly finished his thought. “I think that it’s fast, but I also think it’s the best idea I’ve heard in…well, in all of my life.” 

“Is that a yes?” Olivia murmured, her eyes wide and hopeful.

“Yes,” Jake replied. “Let’s do it. Let’s get married tomorrow.”

“Okay,” she murmured back. “Let’s do it.” 

She had no idea what had just happened, but she was sure that it was the best thing she had ever experienced. She was also sure that life would get even better the following day.


	13. Chapter 13

As a little girl, Olivia hadn’t often fantasized about her future wedding. She had been pragmatic from an early age, had trained herself to be logical in every situation long before she met the first man that made her question her rationality. She had imagined law school and a career in politics long before she had even thought about a white dress and promises of forever. Even when she was with Fitz, it hadn’t been at the forefront of her mind. But then she had met Jake. And like he had when it came to every other aspect of her life, he changed everything about what she believed without even trying.

Jake amazed her daily without even trying. He was kind and considerate and good. He cared more deeply for people than anyone she had ever met, even if he didn’t know anything about them, and he was open and humorous and giving despite the circumstances of his childhood. He fought for the people he loved, protected them at all costs, and treated their pain as though it was his own when things went wrong. He had healed her in ways that she hadn’t even imagined prior to their first meeting, and he helped her to be a better person every day. Yes, he was broken in some ways, damaged by events that she didn’t even want to imagine, but so was everyone else; it was an unwarranted side effect of the human condition. He was her light, her sun, her hope, and, finally, her future. And that future was going to begin before the next sunrise. 

Their appointment with the Justice of the Peace was scheduled for five o’clock in the afternoon, which gave her more than enough time to prepare for the day. Naomi, Abby, and Quinn spent the morning amusing her and helping her get ready. In the early afternoon, she received a call from Mellie. It was probably the friendliest phone call she had ever had with the other woman. Mellie was excited about the wedding and the pregnancy and even congratulated Olivia. With those words, the final hatchet between them was buried, and everything tying Olivia to her past was officially severed. She was free to start over with everyone in her life, and that was the best wedding present she could’ve asked for. She was also informed of Mellie’s growing romance with an old friend from college, and she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. It seemed that things were looking up for everyone.   
There were downsides to the day, of course. Naomi was pulled away by Fitz in the middle of a conversation and informed that Rowan was planning his next move for later that day. Olivia had glared at the man when she overheard his words, but he had quickly reassured her that Jake would not be going with the team before rushing away from the estrogen-filled room as if it was on fire. Naomi had laughed after him, and Abby had spoken for everyone in the room when she had asked if the two people were planning on getting their act together any time soon. Naomi blushed her way through the rest of Olivia’s preparation process. 

By the time that they were preparing to leave for the courthouse, Olivia felt like a bride. Her hair was in loose waves against her shoulders, and her makeup was light but romantic. Her ivory dress had been found by Naomi the day before, but it fit correctly, and her pumps matching the fabric perfectly. A small bouquet of roses and baby’s breath had been gathered (Naomi had informed her that the flowers were chosen for two reasons, the first of which being that Emily’s middle name had been Rose) by Naomi and Abby, and ruby jewelry had been borrowed from Philippa. A sapphire hair comb was the final touch. As she looked into the mirror, Olivia felt surer of her decision than she had felt of anything before in her life. 

As soon as she exited her bedroom and made her way towards the group of women waiting for her in her living room, she was fighting off tears. Philippa was openly weeping when she rounded the corner, and the other woman approached her quickly, wrapping her in her arms and thanking her profusely for loving her son. By the time that Olivia pulled away, she had never been happier about the existence of waterproof makeup. 

It didn’t take them long to reach the courthouse, and they were ushered inside without much fuss. Because they had only informed those closest to them of their plan, no cameras awaited them outside of the doors, which Olivia was thankful for. As she made her way into the courthouse and caught sight of Jake across the room, she drew in a breath that it took her several moments to exhale. 

Jake was in his naval dress uniform, as handsome as he had been on the first day that she had learned his name, and his smile was so wide and genuine that it brightened the atmosphere around them. He was joking with Fitz, both laughing about something, but his face changed the moment he caught sight of her. His eyes grew softer and his smile grew gentler, and Olivia had to blink back the second batch of approaching tears for the day as she made her way towards him. 

“You look beautiful,” Jake said immediately once she was by his side. “You look absolutely stunning.” 

“Thank you,” she murmured, her eyes focused on his. “Abby and Quinn treated me like their own personal Barbie doll.” 

Jake chuckled. “Well, you’re always beautiful,” he informed her. “With or without all of this.” He buried one hand in his pocket, shifting from one foot to the other. “You know, I didn’t think I’d be nervous today. Uh, I’m going to do something before we go in there, and I really hope it’s not going to make you hit me. If you feel the need to, though, you do what you have to do, all right?” 

“All right,” Olivia replied suspiciously, shaking her head and blinking rapidly when he removed a small black box from the pocket his hand was in and fell immediately to one knee after opening it. She laughed slightly. “Jake…”

“I know that we already got engaged, but this is part of the process, all right?” Jake laughed softly when she nodded, still blinking every few seconds. “Olivia, I didn’t know when I met you in that coffeeshop all those years ago that we would end up here, but I knew within the first week of knowing you that I wanted to. You are brilliant and kind and infuriating all at the same time. You make me laugh every day, and you have shown me what it means to be the kind of man worthy of a woman like you. So, now that we’re here and about to meet with the Justice of the Peace, will you marry me?” 

Olivia blinked again. “Yes,” she replied immediately. “Of course I will.” 

Jake blinked back his own tears as he stood and removed the ring from its cushion. He slipped the band onto her finger and took her hand in his to press a kiss to her palm. “Thank you,” he murmured against her fingers. 

They were both lost in their own world for a few moments until they heard sniffling. A quick glance in Naomi’s direction informed them that the sound was coming from her. “Dammit,” she muttered, causing everyone to burst into laughter. “Don’t laugh at me, he’s like my little brother, all right? Philippa’s crying, too, she’s just prettier while she does it.” She gestured towards Jake’s mother, who was dabbing at her eyes with a tissue. “Now, can we get this show on the road so that I can test my waterproof mascara some more?” 

As if he had heard the question, the Justice of the Peace called their names from the door of his office. The group entered with Olivia and Jake in front. The Justice of the Peace went over the documents that they would be required to sign before conducting the ceremony. They had written their own vows, which caused Naomi’s waterworks to worsen as they began to speak. 

Olivia went first. “Jacob Hamilton Ballard.” She laughed at the expression on his face. “When we first met, I knew that you were different than anyone else I had ever encountered. You made me laugh only seconds into our first meeting, and that has never stopped. You took me as I was without question or hesitation, and you didn’t try to shape me into someone else. You loved me when I thought that no one ever would. You made me feel whole in a way that no one ever had. And by the time that we went to that island, I knew that you were the one. 

We have faced difficulties, and we will again in the future. That’s one of the things that goes along with building a life together. But I know that I am stronger with you. You make me strong, Jake, and I am so thankful for you every single day. Your strength is something that I know our baby will inherit, and I am so glad that he or she will have you to look up to. You will be their hero in the same way that you’ve been mine.

I wrote these last night, but I left something out. When I was a little girl, before my mother’s accident, I imagined a future like this. The only difference is that the reality is so much better than the fantasy. I love you, Jake. Thank you for wanting to spend the rest of your life with me. I hope that I can make you as happy as you always make me.”   
By the time Olivia was finished, her voice was nothing more than a whisper, and everyone’s eyes were damp. Jake smiled lovingly at her, lifting his hand to rub away her tears with his thumb before clearing his throat and beginning to speak. 

“Olivia Carolyn Pope.” He beamed at her when she chuckled. “I remember the first time I met you. We were in a coffeeshop, and I turned around too quickly and ran into you. I recall thinking that you were the most beautiful woman that I had ever seen. That opinion has yet to change, but there’s so much more to you than your external beauty. You are the strongest woman that I have ever met. When the world tries to tell you what to do, when everyone in the world seems to be against you, you do what you know to be right despite the probable circumstances. You are infuriatingly and endearingly stubborn. You are the reason that I laugh. You are also the reason that I sometimes go insane, but it only takes a moment with you to make me forget why we were fighting in the first place. You are everything that I had no idea I wanted until the moment that I met you. You are you, Olivia. I love you. And these vows? They mean forever.” 

The Justice of the Peace cleared his throat. “Olivia Carolyn Pope, do you take this man to be your husband, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?” 

“I do,” Olivia murmured, tears streaming down her cheeks as she beamed at the man in front of her. 

“And do you, Jacob Hamilton Ballard, take Olivia Carolyn Pope to be your wife, for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?” 

“I do.” Jake’s voice was almost as quiet as Olivia’s as he pressed a kiss to her palm. 

“I was told that we have rings,” the Justice commented, leading Fitz and Naomi to each hand over a small golden circle. 

Jake cleared his throat as he reached for Olivia’s left hand. “With this ring, I wed you, and pledge you, my love, now and forever.” 

“With this ring, I wed you, and pledge you, my love, now and forever,” Olivia murmured as she slid the ring onto his finger.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.” 

The Justice of the Peace wasn’t able to finish his sentence before Jake’s lips were on Olivia’s. She giggled as he pressed two kisses against her lips quickly before pulling her in for a longer one, both of them laughing as they pulled apart. They turned towards their friends with tears on their cheeks and smiles on their lips. 

“May I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Jake Ballard.” 

OLIVIA&JAKE

There wasn’t a planned reception, but they all made their way to Olivia Pope and Associates, laughter circling around the room as they all reminisced. Jake and Olivia were laughing and dancing around the room to some unknown song that Quinn had insisted everyone listen to when Fitz’s phone rang, pulling his attention away from Naomi and causing his eyebrows to furrow as he glanced at the screen. Olivia and Jake both stopped moving when he walked back into the room five minutes later, both aware of what had likely happened while they were in newlywed bliss.

Fitz cleared his throat. “Rowan made his move.” 

“How many dead?” Jake asked evenly, his eyes betraying his anger.

“We don’t have a final count yet. But we took heavy casualties.” Fitz glanced in Olivia’s direction. “I’m sorry, Liv, but we can’t just bring him in anymore. He’s done too much now.”  
Olivia nodded.

“You know what this means, don’t you?” Jake murmured, his eyes on her.

“I do,” she replied evenly. “And I am telling you to do what you have to do. Just come back to me when you’re done.” 

“Okay, then,” Jake replied. “What’s our first step?”


	14. Chapter 14

In the week following her wedding, Olivia was the happiest that she had ever been. It felt wrong, somehow, being so happy when her father was out there on the loose and families were mourning because of his actions, but she had learned enough during her life to know to embrace the happiness when she encountered it. And so she woke up every morning with Jake, laughed until her stomach hurt, went to work, did her job, came home, and did it all over again. They spent most of their evenings talking about the future, and her father was rarely brought up unless Jake had an update on how Fitz was handling the situation. Fitz had pulled Jake onto the team hunting for her father, which meant that he spent most of his days at the White House, but the smile very rarely left his face once he was within the four walls of her apartment. They were both deliriously happy. They should have known better than to expect the happiness to stick around for long, though. Rowan was always going to Rowan whether they were married or not. 

One of Olivia’s worst days began with a completely typical Thursday morning. She and Jake were scheduled to go into the doctor later that day to learn the gender of their baby, so they would both be ducking out of work a little early. Jake had called her while she was on her way to work to inform her that something had jumped off, but he couldn’t go into detail. Still, he had assured her that he would be fine and declared his love for her as he always did before ending the call with a ‘see you later’. Because of who her husband was, Olivia didn’t develop an immediate pit in her stomach. Jake knew how to handle himself; he was a trained assassin with the ability to destroy someone with a single punch. Still, her workload was taken a little less seriously than was typical for Olivia Pope and Associates. 

Everything had begun to go downhill when her cell phone began to ring just fifteen minutes after her arrival. None of her current clients had her personal phone number, and the number listed was that of the firm. She stood from her desk and approached the device where it was charging by the wall, her fingers shaking as she unplugged it. The call ended before she even had time to accept it. She almost breathed a sigh of relief, but then she heard the office phone ringing. If she was receiving two phone calls within such a brief period, nothing good could have happened. 

Quinn walked into her office a moment later, a serious expression on her face. “Liv, Abby just called,” she stated evenly. “They went after your father. He was in Washington, and they took the chance the moment they saw it.” Her friend paused for a moment. “She wouldn’t tell me anything about the outcome, but Jake was injured. They’re taking him to George Washington now.” She immediately shook her head when Olivia began to search for her keys. “Oh, no. I’ll take you. I really don’t want your husband to kick my ass for letting you drive in this condition, and we both know that he would. Now come on, let’s go.” 

The drive to the hospital was mostly silent, the only sound that of the crooning performers on the radio, and Olivia almost jumped out of the car when they pulled into the hospital’s parking lot. It didn’t take her long to rush inside and make her way towards the front desk to demand information about her husband. After being informed that he was in one of the emergency room bays and that his injuries weren’t life-threatening, she headed in the direction that the nurse had pointed, Quinn only two steps behind her as they hurried towards the closed curtain hiding her husband from the view of the public. 

Jake did look fine, for all that that was worth. He had a split lip and a bandaged shoulder, but he smiled the moment that he caught sight of her, his eyes expressing everything he wasn’t willing to say in front of the young surgeon blotting blood away from his remaining wounds. Quinn whispered that she would give them a moment before ducking out of the room. The surgeon quickly followed, and Olivia was left alone with her husband for the first time since Quinn had walked into her office an hour before. 

“I’m fine,” Jake assured her before she could even speak. “It’s just a flesh wound.” He winced as he shifted on the narrow bed. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you what was happening; we barely walked through the door before we got a lead.” His eyes widened when he caught sight of the tears in hers. “Liv, I promise that I’m okay. Everything is just fine.” 

“My father tried to kill you today,” she murmured, sinking into the hard plastic chair next to the bed and reaching for his unbruised hand. “My father, the man who is supposed to protect me, tried to kill the father of his own grandchild today. Nothing is fine.” 

“That’s a fair point, but he didn’t succeed, and that’s what matters.” Jake sighed when she continued to shake her head. “Olivia, he’s not going to hurt anyone ever again.”  
“Did you capture him?” she asked hollowly, running her thumb over his knuckles. 

“No. One of the snipers had a shot,” Jake admitted softly. “He’s not dead, but the doctors…” He trailed off with a sigh. “It’s bad, Liv. They’re not hopeful.” 

Olivia felt her eyes fill with tears once again. She blinked rapidly, cursing under her breath. “Dammit! Why am I crying over him? He’s a monster who has tried to kill both of us more than once. He’s a monster. He doesn’t deserve anyone’s sympathy. That doesn’t change because I’m his daughter.” 

“That shouldn’t change because you’re his daughter,” Jake corrected gently. “But you care about people, Liv. You care about people no matter how many times they’ve hurt you. It’s one of the reasons that I fell in love with you. You don’t have to be happy about this, all right? I’m not asking that of you. Be sad. You have earned the right to be sad about all of this more than anyone else involved.” 

Olivia nodded, tears dripping down her cheeks and onto their joined hands. Jake sighed, lifting their hands to kiss the fingers of hers before holding them against his chest to allow her to feel his heartbeat. “We’re going to be okay,” he murmured. “Okay? We are going to be fine.” He kissed her fingers again. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she whimpered, swiping at the tears on her cheeks. She sighed as she looked up at him. “How badly are you hurt?” she questioned. “Did the doctor check you other than the bullet wound?” 

“She did,” Jake assured her. “I have a few bruised ribs, and this lip is going to take a few days to heal, but I’m perfectly fine. All my scans came back normal. She left to get my discharge papers. We can leave as soon as she gets back and I sign them.” 

“I have a better idea,” Olivia murmured, pulling her phone from her pocket and dialing quickly. “Yes, is this Dr. Reilly’s office?” she questioned when someone accepted the call. “This is Olivia Pope. I have an appointment with her this afternoon, but my husband was injured during a work exercise today, and we’re at the hospital where she does her morning rounds. I was wondering if there was a chance that she could squeeze me in for an ultrasound this morning instead?” She listened for a moment before nodded. “Great. Thank you so much. Yes, we will see you in about an hour.” She ended the call and immediately began to dial again. 

“Who are you calling now, social butterfly?” Jake asked amusedly as he leaned back against the cushions behind him.

“Your mother. I’m assuming that you forgot to,” she replied, pausing for a moment before smiling. “Hi, Philippa. No, everything is fine,” she reassured the concerned woman on the other end of the line. “Well, it is now. Jake was injured during a work exercise today, but the doctors say he just has a few bruised ribs and a split lip. Well, yes, but it was a flesh wound-yes, the doctor confirmed it. No, he didn’t diagnose himself, don’t worry,” she said with a smile that turned into a smirk when she glanced at Jake and caught sight of him rolling his eyes. “I just wanted to tell you. Oh, he usually forgets? Well, I’ll make sure he works on that.” She paused for a moment to listen. “We are finding out what we’re having today. I moved up the appointment, so we’ll call you as soon as we know…yes, we should go shopping as soon as possible. That’s a great idea. Oh, okay. No, go ahead and go to your knitting class. Yes, I’ll call you if we need anything. Yes, I promise. Okay. All right, I’ll tell him. It was nice to talk to you, too. Bye.” 

Jake chuckled when she ended the call. “My mother just roped you into going shopping for baby clothes, didn’t she?”

“Yes, she did, but she was so sweet about it that I don’t even care,” Olivia replied. She glanced down at her phone when it vibrated. “Fitz apparently told Naomi what happened. She wants to know if you’re all right and if there’s anything she can do.” 

“Tell her that I’m fine and we’ll call her if we think of anything,” Jake sighed. Olivia nodded and began to type out the message. “I need to get in touch with the people in charge of watching your father, see if anything’s changed. I don’t want to make that call while we’re waiting to find out the gender of our child.” 

“I’ll ask Naomi to pass on the message, see if Fitz can get it done,” Olivia offered. “Or I could go and see for myself. He’s here, isn’t he?”

“He is,” Jake replied hesitantly. “But Liv, despite all that he’s done, he’s still your father. The shot that the sniper took wasn’t to anything cosmetic. It was gruesome. I don’t even know if they’d allow you in there right now. And even if they did…” He trailed off. “He’s your dad, Liv. No matter what he did, you don’t want to see him like this.” 

She nodded reluctantly. “I know. I just…it’s strange, you know? As long as we’ve been together, he’s tried to hurt us. He tried to kill you for protecting me months after we first met, and he hasn’t gotten better. How awful does it make me if I need to see him like that just to accept that he’s actually gone?” 

“I went to my father’s funeral for that reason, Liv. I don’t know what kind of person that makes either of us. I do know that you are not a bad person, and he is.” Jake smiled at her slightly. “If you need to say goodbye, then do. Just know that I’m behind you no matter what, all right?” 

Olivia’s response was interrupted by the doctor reentering the small space. “Hello,” she greeted with a small smile. “I’m sorry for not introducing myself earlier, Mrs. Ballard. I’m Dr. Manning. Your husband will be mighty sore for the next few days, but there’s no permanent damage. That gunshot wound will leave an impressive scar, though.” She extended a file in Jake’s direction. “Take your pain medication every six hours on the hour, Captain Ballard. That’s my only advice. Oh, and try not to get shot next time.” 

“I like her,” Olivia said the moment that the doctor was gone, causing Jake to laugh. “And you really should take that advice about not getting shot.” 

“Yeah, I won’t stand still next time,” Jake replied sarcastically. “Maybe I’ll wear a different shade of camouflage. I heard that pink’s apparently in.” He winced as he shrugged into the fresh shirt that Olivia had grabbed from the random closet full of things that they had left at OPA over the years. He glanced at the blood-stained tee next to him with thinly-veiled irritation before moving his hands aside to allow Olivia to button up the shirt. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and smoothed a hand down his chest after she was done, backing away slowly enough that he was able to pull her into his arms for a moment to hold her. “I’m really glad I got to come home to you,” he murmured. 

“Yeah,” Olivia sighed into his shoulder. “Me, too.” 

They gathered the rest of their things and made their way towards the elevators to ride up to the floor housing the maternity ward. It didn’t take them long to find themselves in one of the examination rooms, and it took even less time for Dr. Reilly to walk in and do a double-take when she caught sight of Jake’s face. 

“Well, Dell wasn’t kidding when he said that you had an accident at work. I know who you work for, so I’m not even going to question it. I’m glad you’re all right, though.” She smiled slightly as she turned her attention to Olivia. “I heard that you wanted to find out whether you’ve got a little guy or a little girl in there. Let’s see if we can figure that out for you.” She gestured for Olivia to roll up her shirt as she prepared the sonogram machine. She placed some of the gel on Olivia’s stomach and apologized quietly when the other woman flinched. Within moments, the screen showcased the baby growing inside of Olivia. 

Dr. Reilly concentrated on the image before her, moving the wand around before catching sight of whatever she was looking for and smiling. “Well, it looks like you’ve got one healthy little girl hanging out in there. She’s completely on target for her growth and development. And she was not shy, so I wish you luck in her teenage years.” She glanced over at the captivated parents and smiled. “I will leave you with this while I go grab your pictures. Congratulations to both of you,” she added as she stood from her stool and headed for the door. 

“A little girl,” Olivia murmured, her eyes widening and filling with tears as a smile took over her face. “We’re having a little girl, Jake.”   
“I know,” Jake murmured back, clearing his throat. “It’s pretty awesome, isn’t it?”

“It is. It’s really awesome,” Olivia replied, doing her best to speak around the lump in her throat. “I want to name her Eliana,” she spoke suddenly, causing him to glance at her in confusion. “I know we talked about Eleanor, but I found Eliana on some name website one night when I couldn’t sleep, and it just… it feels like her name, Jake. Eliana Rose, for us and for Emily.” 

“Eliana Rose,” Jake murmured, nodding. “What does Eliana mean?”

“It means ‘daughter of the sun’.”


	15. Chapter 15

The next two weeks of Olivia and Jake’s lives were madness. Her father had succumbed to his injuries less than an hour after they left the hospital, and the grief had hit her harder than she had anticipated. She was often pulled into meetings at the White House with Fitz and Naomi while Jake was at the Pentagon, and while she knew that they wanted her to believe that they needed her political expertise, she knew them both well enough to know that they were checking in on her. Jake put extra effort into making her smile every day, but he was also accepting of her grief. He never once asked her to speed up the process or deal with it in a healthier way. In fact, he often joined her on her early morning jogs and late-night movie marathons, spending most of the time letting her do whatever she wished and just being there for her. Olivia didn’t think she would ever be able to put into words how much his presence healed her each and every day. Fitz was doing his best to push through a funeral for her father, but those who knew about what Rowan had been involved in weren’t eager to simply let him be buried without labeling him a traitor. By the time that Fitz finally won out, it had been fifteen days since Rowan’s death. 

When Olivia walked into the small chapel, she almost immediately wanted to turn around. The room was filled with flowers and people. Fitz and Naomi were seated with Mellie and Fitz’s children in the second row alongside Cyrus, Michael, and Ella. Quinn, Huck, Charlie, Abby, and Stephen were in the pew across from them. Several of Olivia’s closest friends were seated alongside members of Jake’s maternal family in the third row, and half of the staff of the White House filled the remaining pews. She was surrounded by people, but many of them had never known her father. He didn’t deserve to have them here. He hadn’t earned the right to have good people mourn his loss in such a large group. He was still a monster; death didn’t change that. 

As if Jake was reading her mind, he leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Olivia, they’re not here for him. They’re here for you.” He led her to the front pew and guided her onto the bench. When he was settled next to her, he pulled her hand into his lap and then lifted their linked fingers to his mouth to press a kiss to her knuckles. 

The priest’s speech was very straightforward, and it became blatantly obvious that Naomi and Fitz hadn’t told the poor man anything about the kind of person that her father had truly been when they had been choosing a speaker for the service in Olivia’s place the week before very early on into his eulogy. Her father was as far from religious as a person could be, but she and Jake had elected to incorporate aspects of their own faith into the service. It was as everyone always said: funerals were for the living, not the dead, and in the final moments before burying her father, Olivia needed to believe that he was more of a human being than he had ever actually been. 

She sat through the service silently, staring off into space and losing herself in her thoughts. She breathed in deeply when the priest mentioned her by name, bowing her head and clutching Jake’s hand tighter between her own. When it was time for her to speak, she approached the podium while looking straight ahead, well aware of her husband’s concerned eyes on her back. 

She cleared her throat before beginning to speak. “Thank you for the kind eulogy, Father. I know that my father would have appreciated it.” She looked out at the group of people awaiting her words. “While I was writing this speech last night, I was overcome with an inability to think of any moment that would apply to what we are doing here today. I was wondering how I could remember a moment that would make laying my father to rest easier. As many of you know, my father and I had a tumultuous relationship. My mother was taken from us when we were very young, and my father coped with his sudden loss by sending me to boarding school in Europe. I returned to the States with a rather large chip on my shoulder, and I never really got over the betrayal I felt. I never really came to terms with the fact that he was doing the best that he could with the hand that he had been dealt. And I resented him until the day that he died. So when I was deciding what to write, I turned to my husband and I asked him how I was supposed to do this, to lay my resentment for my father to rest alongside him. And his advice to me was simple but effective. He told me to remember the first and last times that I saw my father as my hero.

When I was five years old, I remember being on the playground with a group of boys one day. I told one of them that I wanted to be a paleontologist when I grew up. My father worked at the Smithsonian at the time, so it wasn’t much of a jump for me, even if it is a bit difficult to believe now. And after I said the word ‘paleontologist’, this boy laughed in my face and told me that I’m a girl, as if that somehow made my dreams impossible to achieve. So, I spent the rest of my day feeling pretty miserable, and then my dad showed up, and he saw my facial expression, and he asked me what was wrong. When I told him, he looked me in the eye, and he said to me, ‘Olivia, there will always be people in this world that doubt you. Prove them wrong by doing what you love.’ Now, I didn’t become a paleontologist, but that advice has stuck with me through thick and thin. That was the first time that my father was my hero. 

The last time I saw my father as my hero, I was twelve years old. There was a boy, and he wasn’t… well, he wasn’t particularly understanding of the fact that not every girl in the class was interested in him. He said things to me, and when I told my father, he told me this: ‘Olivia, there will be men in your life that love you and men in your life that hate you, and you don’t have any say in that. The only thing you can decide is whether or not those men deserve you.’ This advice has stayed with me throughout my life. I have repeated it mentally more than one hundred times in moments of crisis. It is also the advice that led me to finally be with the man that I loved. 

Over the past two and a half decades, my father didn’t do much to maintain his status as a hero in my eyes. But that doesn’t change the fact that he once was. And it’ll never change the fact that the little girl inside of me will always see him as Superman. It is that version of him that I grieve today; it is that version of him that I will miss. I hope that it is now the version of him that you will all grieve and miss, too. Thank you.” 

She kept it together as she returned to her seat, but as soon as Jake’s hand covered hers, tears began to run down her cheeks. She turned her head slightly to bury her face in his shoulder, and he pressed a kiss against her hair, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer to his side. 

“This is where we say goodbye,” she murmured. 

“Yeah, Liv. This is where we say goodbye,” Jake replied. 

Olivia didn’t know what kind of person it made her to be slightly relieved after receiving that confirmation that she could finally let go of her father and the place that he had held in her life over the years. At that moment, though, all she felt was free.


	16. Chapter 16

Twenty-two weeks into her pregnancy, Olivia felt Eliana kick for the very first time. She had been dealing with the media backlash of announcing her pregnancy and reading the various headlines about the news on her laptop in between looking over the notes for upcoming cases. Jake had been looking over things for Fitz for most of the morning in his new role as a national security advisor to the President, but he had taken to looking at houses for sale in their area after they had a conversation about buying their own place instead of living in her one-bedroom apartment with a baby for the rest of their lives for the umpteenth time. They were both lost in their own worlds until Olivia stopped what she was doing, dropping her pen in the process. 

It was a strange feeling, a small person moving inside of her. She had read all of the pregnancy books and knew that it was normal, but it was still so extremely surreal to her that this was her life, and that made all of the milestones both extremely easy and extremely difficult to digest. Still, she immediately pressed a hand to her stomach, her eyes filling with tears as she felt her daughter kick once again. 

Jake had glanced away from his own work when she had dropped the pen and was gazing at her with open concern. He stood from his chair, circling around to Olivia’s desk and squatting down in front of her with his hands on her knees. “Liv, babe, is everything okay? You look a little panicked right now, and I’ve watched enough scenes from those prenatal shows to know that panic is not always a good thing.” His eyes widened when she began to smile wider. “That’s either really good or really bad news.” 

“She’s kicking,” she murmured to him, her eyes full of tears. “I was just looking over these reports, and she started kicking. She’s still at it.” She grabbed his hand. “Here, feel.” She held his hand in place until the baby kicked again, grinning at him when his eyes widened with wonder. “That’s our little girl doing that. She’s acting like a soccer player in there, isn’t she? It’s like she’s practicing her self-defense skills earlier than we anticipated. No denying she’s yours now, babe. Not that you would have before, because I would have kicked your ass.” 

“Olivia, she has ears!” Jake hissed playfully, causing Olivia to burst into laughter. “And I wasn’t planning on denying her anytime soon, but I do have a lot more reasons not to question her paternity now, don’t I?” He chuckled when Olivia shot him a playful glare. “Only eighteen more weeks, huh?” he asked, his hand still on her stomach. He leaned forward to press his lips against her shirt before beginning to speak candidly to the baby. “Hi, Eliana. This is your daddy talking. I know we speak every night, but I just wanted to let you know that I am very proud of you for learning how to kick. Mommy says you’re like a little soccer player or defense instructor in there, but we both know you’ll be awesome no matter what you do.” He glanced up at Olivia with a smile before continuing. “Now, I know that it’s probably fun to stretch your legs, but you have a bedtime, okay? Seven o’clock every night. You can start it up again when you make Mommy get up to pee, but that’s all. Understand, little one?” He smiled when she kicked his palm again. “See? We get each other, babe.” 

“I’m sure that you do,” Olivia chuckled, smiling when his hand remained where it was. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to tell you that Naomi wants to host a co-ed baby shower at the White House for us. I think it’s to give her an excuse to hang out with our unborn child and Fitz at the same time, but I’m not going to call her out on that. Are you good with that idea, or do you want to go hunt or clean guns or whatever stereotypical men do while women look at baby clothes?” 

“How did she talk Fitz into hosting a baby shower at the White House? He never wants to host things at the White House; he calls it a prison. I don’t completely disagree with him.” Jake grinned when Olivia rolled her eyes at his response. “I think that having a baby shower at the White House with all of our family and friends in attendance is a great idea. We all know that Naomi doesn’t do anything halfway, and Fitz just gave her the best platform possible. I think he’s enjoying divorced life more than anyone else on the planet. And don’t worry, I won’t let any of the men clean guns around the baby’s clothes, okay?” He looked back towards her stomach. “I won’t let anyone with guns around you until you’re at least twenty, all right? And if they get near you before then, you shoot them.”

“There’s a slight flaw in your logic, my love,” Olivia teased, causing Jake to beam up at her once again. “I finally found a positive headline about the pregnancy.” She turned the screen in Jake’s direction as she began to read. 

Washington’s Favorite Fixer is Married and Pregnant, and We Couldn’t be Happier! 

Well, this may be the news that permanently breaks the Internet. Political consultant Olivia Pope has announced that she and her husband (yes, we said husband) are expecting their first child early next year. And yes, the new year begins in just over four months. It turns out that Pope is as good at keeping secrets about her own life as she is at keeping them for her clients. 

Pope was questioned about her personal life by numerous reporters during a recent press conference for a local alderman. When it became obvious that the media would not focus on the topic at hand until their questions were answered, Pope finally folded. “My husband and I are expecting our first child early next year,” she confirmed, causing an uproar. “We are very excited about the news.” 

This led to a lot of questions from the media, the first being the easiest to answer: just who did Olivia Pope marry without being caught up in a media storm? Pope is seen as a socialite in many circles, and many of her closest friends are well-known politicians. She gained national and international fame during a supposed cheating scandal prior to the election last year, and she is often seen on talk shows advocating for the rights of different groups of people. She is a well-established feminist with views that are otherwise neutral, which endears her to both sides of the aisle. Because of this, it is nothing short of a miracle that six hundred people weren’t on the guest list. It appears that there weren’t even fifty people invited to share in the day when Pope married Captain Jacob Ballard in a private ceremony at a local courthouse several months ago after over a year of dating. The two first confirmed their relationship during the second presidential campaign of their mutual friend late last year, but many reports issued after the second inauguration of the President questioned the couple’s absence from the event and predicted a severed relationship. These reports were proven false when the couple made an appearance that sparked pregnancy rumors at a charity gala hosted by the RNC earlier in the month. “They’re happy,” one onlooker at the event said of the couple. “It’s obvious that they love one another, which is something we need to see more in the spotlight.” Five days later, the unrelenting questions led Pope to confirm her relationship and her pregnancy to a shocked crowd. 

Now, many are wondering what this pregnancy means for Pope. Some are questioning why she would marry and have children when she has such a high-powered career, while others are wondering if her own decisions change her opinions on certain subjects. While Pope is a wife and will soon be a mother, she has shown no signs of changing her viewpoints. “I made decisions for myself,” she said when asked this question publicly. “I chose to get married and have a family, and those are the best decisions that I have ever made. However, they aren’t the right decisions for everyone, and I am in no way trying to force others to follow in my footsteps.”   
Despite what everyone else might think about the news, we are thrilled for the couple! Congratulations to Captain Ballard and Ms. Pope on their fantastic news. 

Olivia smiled as she finished the article. “There’s nice people in this world that we’re bringing a child into. That’s good to know after reading over the Republican reports. I think that Fitz would slap the reporters for his own party if he read half of what they wrote about the pregnancy.”

“Oh, no, he’d hold Naomi’s things while she did it. Nai has a hell of a left hook,” Jake commented, glancing over another article. “’Does having baby out of wedlock make Olivia Pope less of a role model’? Really? Of all the things going on in this world, that’s the question that they feel the need to ask?” 

“It’s the media, Jake. What do you expect-oh, hello, Eliana,” she added, glancing down at her abdomen once again. “You’ve gotten the hang of the whole kicking thing already, have you? Well, that’s okay. You can keep it up while Daddy and I look at houses on the computer.” 

“We could make some appointments. You don’t have a client that needs you right now, do you?” Jake asked, looking away from the screen in front of him.

“No, I don’t. Quinn and Huck can cover if we get a walk-in,” Olivia assured him. “I’m assuming that you already made a few appointments, since you’re so eager to look at houses today?”

“I’ve been around you a lot lately, babe. I’m overprepared for every situation,” he teased, pulling his keys from his pocket and taking her things from her grasp to carry them himself. He placed his free hand on the small of her back and led her out the door and down to their vehicle.

Jake had been extremely overprepared for the day. They had five appointments in different neighborhoods. The first four houses were elegant but simplistic, which they appreciated. But from the very moment that Olivia walked into the fifth house, something felt different. 

“This is it,” she informed Jake as he walked into the room behind her. “This is our home.”

“Well, let’s hear about it first,” Jake cautioned, turning towards the real estate agent behind them.

The woman smiled patiently. “This house is a six-bedroom, five-bath residence with an open-concept floorplan. It also comes in over a hundred thousand dollars below your maximum budget.” 

“I’m telling you, Jake. This is our home,” Olivia reiterated as they walked through the halls and bedrooms.

“Yeah,” Jake replied when they were done with the tour. “Yeah, this is our home.” He turned towards the agent. “Let’s place an offer now.”

“All right,” she replied with a smile, leaving to make the appropriate calls.

“This is home, Jake,” Olivia murmured, glancing around the room once again.

“Yeah,” he replied, his eyes never leaving her face. “This is home.”


	17. Chapter 17

Thirty weeks into her pregnancy, Olivia was fast becoming a nervous wreck. She was also nesting, which was something that amused and terrified her husband in equal parts. She had always been a bit of a neat freak, but on the day that he walked into the apartment to catch sight of her about to cry over dozens of swatches of pink paint, she had seen the confusion in his eyes. Unsurprisingly, he had been eager to get her out of the apartment as soon as possible. It seemed that those days Jake was splitting his time between keeping the country safe and keeping Olivia sane. Pregnancy hadn’t changed everything, after all. 

After eight weeks, they had finally managed to pack up their lives from both apartments to be moved to their new home. They had also miraculously found a weekend during which all of their close friends were available to help them transfer their belongings to their new residence, which had been crucial to Jake, seeing as Olivia had about as much of a chance of lifting a box in front of him as she did of winning the lottery. So, on one sunny Saturday morning, Huck and Jake carried the last pieces of furniture to the moving truck, Olivia turned in her keys to her landlord, and the newly married couple took the final step in moving forward together for the rest of their lives. 

Jake approached her in the apartment building’s lobby, a fond smile on his face as he wrapped an arm around her. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head before speaking. “I think I might miss this place more than you,” he murmured. “A lot of our best memories happened here. Our first kiss was upstairs in your former living room.”   
“A lot of bad memories happened here, too, Jake,” she reminded him softly. “It’s a good thing that we’re leaving. I don’t have any memories of being kidnapped from the new house. Or spilling my wine.” She smiled slightly to let him know that she hadn’t retreated into the dark place that he had pulled her out of too many times to count before continuing. “And the memories go with us wherever we go. If you want, we can recreate our first kiss in the new living room once we finish unpacking the boxes tonight.”

“Yeah? Is that the only first you want to recreate?” Jake questioned with a smirk, stepping towards their vehicle and holding open the passenger door. The bite of the cool air hit her face for only a moment before she was surrounded by warmth. Jake paused on his way to his side of the vehicle to say something to a patiently waiting Naomi before pulling open his own door and sliding behind the wheel. He cranked up the heat and turned the music up slightly before putting the car in drive and pulling away from the curb and into the nearly empty road. He took Olivia’s hand in his and brought her fingers to his lips. “Well, here we go. We’re at the point of no return now, babe.”   
“I didn’t ever think those words would make me happy,” Olivia murmured, causing Jake to chuckle and press his lips to her fingertips once again.   
“You should get used to the feeling. I’m making it my goal to make sure that that is how you always feel,” he murmured back. They made the rest of the drive in comfortable silence. 

Naomi was bouncing on her toes when they pulled into the driveway. Her normal dress and trench coat had been replaced with jeans, a sweater, and a parka, and Fitz was teasing her about something or another as he stood beside her, gesturing at something in the distance. Abby had forced David into accompanying her (Olivia didn’t even want to ask about what was going on there), and Quinn had somehow managed to talk Charlie into accompanying her and Huck (Olivia was equally scared to ask what was going on there). Michael and Cyrus had wanted to help, but Ella had come down with a cold. Cyrus had put effort into ensuring that the media would leave them alone for the day, something that Olivia was extremely thankful for as she climbed from the vehicle and took stock of everything that needed to be accomplished. 

Moving into the house was fairly simple. Neither Jake nor Olivia had accumulated much within their own homes, and much of the furniture from their separate places had been left behind in favor of new items that Olivia had purchased during one of what Jake liked to call her ‘nesting excursions’. They put together the living room in under an hour, and the bedroom was constructed almost as quickly. They would have to decorate, of course, but the house was made livable before the evening hours, which Olivia and Jake were both extremely thankful for. After ordering and consuming a great deal of pizza and bidding farewell to their friends, they made the split-second decision to go to the local children-oriented boutique to look at furniture and other items they would need within the coming months. They slightly regretted that decision with moments of entering the store. 

“How are there so many shades of pink?” Olivia whispered incredulously after they were guided in the direction of the infant clothing. She reached for a tiny onesie with a hot pink tutu attached to it at the waist. “There weren’t even this many different shades in the paint shop.” She held up the item so that Jake could see it. The poor man helplessly shrugged, his eyes still full of shock and confused amazement as he glanced around. “Is she ever going to be this small?” Olivia wondered. “You’re tall; she’ll probably be in the ninety-ninth percentile for height on her first day.” Still, she placed the outfit in their basket and moved on down the line, her eyes continuing to widen the further she went into the store. 

They managed to find a few items that weren’t vibrant enough to blind them. A yellow romper that featured a cartoon rendering of the sun was impossible to resist, and it was the last clothing item added to their pile. They also ordered a crib, dresser, and changing table, as well as a small toy chest that would be engraved with Eliana’s name. They purchased sheets, blankets, burp rags, bottles, pacifiers, and other crucial items, as well as a bouncer, swing, bassinette, cradle, and car seat. By the time that they walked out of the store, they were exhausted and overwhelmed, but they were also happy with their results. They stopped for ice cream to celebrate (and to feed Olivia’s craving) before returning to the house. Jake carried the bags into the room they had chosen to be the nursery before returning to the living room and settling on the sofa next to his wife. They shared a soft kiss that would’ve led to something more if not for the fact that the day had left them both bone-tired before settling more comfortably on the sofa and turning their attention towards the television screen in front of them. 

It was a good day. It was a good house. And Olivia already knew that it was going to be a good life.


	18. Chapter 18

It was still difficult for Olivia to accept that she had so many people that cared about her sometimes. It probably stemmed from a childhood that was made up of memories of being ignored by her father during one of the most difficult periods of her life, but when she grew close to people, she always expected them to eventually turn their back. Jake had helped her considerably when it came to such fears, but in moments like this, she was overcome with the knowledge that the people who were close to her were around because they wanted to be, not because they were required to be. And knowing that was an amazing thing. 

Naomi had called her at least fifteen times that morning to remind her about the baby shower at the White House later that day. She had also called Jake numerous times to inform him that she had reminded Olivia about the baby shower and therefore the other woman had no excuse to back out. Jake had reassured Naomi that they would be there after informing her that Olivia wasn’t forgetting things on purpose in her thirty-seventh week of pregnancy; it was unintentional and the side effect of hormones that were quickly becoming her least favorite part of pregnancy. He had then ended the call before the woman on the other end of the line had a chance to stress out about the shades of pink in the streamers she had purchased and whether or not they tied into the celebration’s theme for the hundredth time. 

When they arrived at the White House, it only took them a few moments to get through the gate. Jake was humming along to a song on the radio to make Olivia laugh, his eyes full of happiness as he glanced her way with a wink after she swatted at his arm when he playfully began to sing the lyrics to the rather cheesy love song aloud. She shook her head when he continued to sing, laughing when he raised his voice, and pretended to sigh with relief when they finally arrived at the destination and he silenced the radio by turning off the car. He shot her a playfully offended frown before climbing from the vehicle and circling around to open her door. He placed his hand on her back as they made their way up to the door, but she reached for his hand moments later to interlace their fingers. He lifted their hands to press a kiss to her pulse point before holding open the door for her and allowing her to pull him inside. 

“Oh, thank God you’re here!” Naomi called as she hurried in their direction. “I didn’t know if you were going to make it in time. The news is saying there’s tons of traffic downtown, and I didn’t know if you’d beat it.” She clapped her hands together with a bright smile. “So, Liv, are you ready for a baby shower or what?” she questioned brightly, spinning on her heel and gesturing in the direction of the room that they had reserved for the party. Fitz waved from just inside the door, but his eyes remained on Naomi as he did so. Olivia shook her head with a fond smile. Hopefully those two would get it together before the baby turned eighteen, but at the pace they were going, she was pretty sure they would all be at Eliana’s college graduation (or, more likely, presidential inauguration) before that happened. Still, it was nice to see Fitz so happy after all that they had put each other through. As she ran her finger over the cool metal of her engagement and wedding rings, she was once again thankful for just how life turned out sometimes. 

“See, she’s acting calm, but she was pacing for the entire thirty minutes between the last time you hung up and when your car pulled up,” Fitz informed them once Naomi had flitted away again. He smiled after her. “She’s really excited about this, if you can’t tell. She says this is the closest she’ll ever get to being an aunt to a little girl. So, I will apologize for the large amounts of items in Pepto-Bismol pink that her gifts likely include.” He looked in the direction of the cake table and sighed when he caught sight of Naomi. “If you will excuse me, I need to go reassure her that that millimeter of cake icing isn’t a different shade of pink than the rest of it.” He shook his head fondly as he stood to cross the room, and Jake and Olivia both shook their heads as they watched him walk away.

“Do you think we were ever that pathetically in love with one another without both of us being aware of it? Because if we were, I feel like we should apologize to every single person that had to put up with us,” Jake mused, causing Olivia to roll her eyes with a laugh. “No, seriously, babe, this is just difficult to watch.” 

“We were absolutely that bad at some point. If you don’t recall, you told me you loved me before leaving on a death mission, and I realized I loved you after coming back from a tropical island where we were all alone for three months. We were pathetic, my love,” Olivia informed him, causing him to groan. “But the upside is that maybe they’ll end up where we do.” She winced. “Maybe without the whole kidnapping thing, though. That wouldn’t be good.”

“Yeah, let’s not even put that out into the world,” Jake murmured back, smiling when Olivia chuckled. “I don’t know whether it makes me happy or it terrifies me that you can know joke about your kidnapping, babe.”

“It’s in the past,” Olivia replied with a shrug. “If I had to go through that to get here, to this baby shower with you, then everything was worth it.” 

As Jake opened his mouth to respond, Abby suddenly appeared. “You two are adorable, but I think Naomi’s going to go insane if we don’t start opening gifts immediately,” she informed them. “Quinn, stop trying to sneak icing; everyone can see you!” she called over her shoulder, causing Quinn to back away from the dessert table guiltily. “I swear that spending time with Charlie is turning her into a foodie,” she sighed before walking away, leaving Jake and Olivia to silently laugh behind her back. 

The baby shower kicked off soon after, with Olivia becoming the center of attention within two seconds. She pulled the largest bag towards her when Naomi not-so-subtly gestured in its direction, chuckling when she removed the first item. “Well, isn’t that adorable?” she cooed, holding up the garment so that her husband could read the message printed on it.

Jake did so, chuckling before he was finished. “’FBI Agent in Training’? Really? Was Quantico on you to start recruiting early?” he teased his friend, causing her to roll her eyes. “Just so we’re aware, though, she would be the best agent in the field.” 

“Of course she would,” Olivia agreed immediately, causing the rest of the occupants of the room to chuckle. “What? She would be, and you all know it. Don’t even act like you’re not as obsessed with her as we are, all right? Cyrus actually tried to decipher her ultrasound the first time I showed it to him.” The man in question flushed immediately, causing everyone to laugh again. Olivia smiled widely before removing the rest of the items from the bag in front of her. “Did you have this custom-made?” she asked her friend when she removed a small onesie with an airbrushed sun on the front of it from the bag. She smiled when Naomi nodded. “It’s adorable.” She removed the rest of the items from the bag, cooing over the tiny outfit sets and layettes that Naomi had so obviously taken her time picking out. Contrary to Fitz’s belief, there was a minimalistic amount of pink. Naomi had chosen to play on the sun as it connected to the baby’s name more than she had chosen to stick to the traditional color scheme that dominated the baby shower’s setup.   
Olivia continued to open packages, smiling at the items that people had clearly put a lot of thought into. Cyrus and Michael (most likely Michael) had purchased a portable bassinette and sports stroller for them, along with about two dozen tiny pieces of clothing. Abby had had a book created by a local publisher that told Jake and Olivia’s story (well, a child-friendly version of their story). She had also found the time to create a scrapbook full of pictures from their various encounters and their wedding. Quinn and Huck had gone together to buy a carriage-style stroller and an exersaucer, as well as a small Moses basket that would allow her to bring the baby to work with her. Fitz had obviously gone shopping with Naomi; his items went along with hers almost perfectly, but it was still obvious that thought had gone into each purchase. Philippa hadn’t been able to attend, but she had sent along family heirlooms, including the blanket that both Jake and Emily had been bundled in while leaving the hospital and the teddy bear that had been in Jake’s crib when he was a baby. It was overwhelming, the amount of love that could be felt in the room at that moment for a baby that had yet to be born. By the time that they were done opening the gifts, Olivia was nearly in tears. 

“Thank you all so much,” she said, her voice wavering only slightly as she smiled tearfully at everyone in the room. “I don’t know how to…” She trailed off, her smile widening. “Thank you for giving our daughter a family. She’s so lucky to have all of you.” She chuckled lightly. “Also, if my teenage years are any indication, she’ll need to run to at least one of you each day to inform you of how horrible Jake and I are being, so at least you can alternate.” The occupants of the room joined her in her laughter, Jake shaking his head at the comment with a wide grin, and she smiled even more brightly. “Unlike Jake and I, our daughter will never have to wonder if there’s someone out there that cares about them even when she thinks we’re being the worst people on the face of the planet, and that’s because of all of you.” She swiped at her cheeks. “And while this message is extremely heartfelt, if you ever remind me of this when I’m not overcome with pregnancy hormones, I am not responsible for my actions.” She glanced in Jake’s direction. “You heard me say that, right? It’s documented in your brain now?” 

“Yup, it’s right next to all of the other threats you’ve told me to remember over the years,” Jake teased, causing her to glare at him as everyone around them chuckled. “Now, while I am all for this discussion of feelings from you, babe, there is cake to be eaten.”

“There is cake to be eaten,” Naomi confirmed, walking away for a moment and returning with a small pink platter and a slice of cake. “I figured that the pregnant woman should both be the center of attention and the laziest person in the room. You’ve been growing a person for thirty-seven weeks; you’ve earned the right.” She handed over a fork and grinned at Olivia before returning to the dessert table. 

“You want to try it?” Olivia asked Jake, tilting her head back so that she could see him better. She held up the piece she had staked with her fork as she lifted an eyebrow in question. 

He took a seat next to her. “Well, I think that you should get the first…. Okay,” he said around the mouthful of cake and icing that Olivia had fed him, “Well, now I am a little grateful that we didn’t have time to plan something like that at the reception after our wedding,” he chuckled once he had swallowed. “It’s good, Nai!” he called to his friend across the room. She gave a thumbs-up before redirecting her attention to Fitz. He chuckled, wiping his face with a napkin and then standing to throw it away. When he returned, he was still shaking his head. “I think they’re worse than we ever were.” 

“’I loved you. I love you,”’ Olivia reminded with a raised eyebrow as she swallowed her bite of cake. 

“Okay, babe, don’t quote me to me. I know what I said, and it was very romantic. I can say it again whenever you want. I mean, I say it all the time anyway, I never really stop saying it, but I can bring back the depressing tone of voice to accompany it if you’d like.” He chuckled when she waved another small piece of cake in front of his face. “Why do I feel like you’re using me as a tool to save you from yourself?” he asked before accepting the bite. 

“Well, that’s not all that I’m using you for,” Olivia teased, taking the final bite for herself.

“Oh, nice, babe,” Jake laughed, standing and removing her plate from her grasp to throw it away in the nearby trashcan. “Good to know where we really stand. And at our daughter’s baby shower of all things.” 

“Yeah, I really shouldn’t have said that here,” Olivia realized, wincing. “Sorry, baby Eliana,” she apologized, looking down at her abdomen. “Mommy didn’t mean to make a dirty joke. But I gave you cake, so all is forgiven, right?” The baby kicked, causing Olivia to smile. “I think that kick was a ‘yes’, so hah,” she said, looking up at her husband.   
“Well, who doesn’t like cake?” Jake asked rhetorically, circling around the chair that Olivia was seated in and squatting down so that he was level with her stomach. “I promise that not all cake is so pink, sweetheart. Aunt Naomi found out you were a little girl and bought stock in Pepto Bismol’s favored shade, apparently. But we love her anyway.”   
“I heard that, Jake, and I have to say, the only sass I hear from a Ballard today better come from your wife!” Naomi called across the room. “I am accepting witty comments from no other member of your family this evening, understand?”

“Got it, Naomi!” he called back, rolling his eyes. Naomi huffed, causing everyone to burst into laughter. “Your Auntie Naomi is awesome, sweetheart,” he continued, still conversing with Eliana. “She’s just unique, but that’s not a bad thing to be. Your mom’s the coolest girl I know. She’s also sometimes the strangest girl that I know. But she never stops being the girl I fell in love with. So, for today’s advice that I won’t let you actually put into use until you’re at least old enough to become President of the United States and prop your feet up on Fitz’s desk, find someone who accepts all of your flaws every day. I mean, look at your mom. She deals with me even when she probably wants to punch me through a wall, and she has since long before you came into the picture. That’s my definition of love, Eli. That’s what you should always look for.” His voice had lowered to a whisper despite the lack of attention being shown by the others in the room, yet Olivia still felt tears gathering behind her eyes. She sniffled as the first trickled down her cheek, causing Jake’s head to flew up as he looked towards her with concern. 

“Okay, I made Mommy either really happy or really sad. You can never tell with her,” he said to their unborn daughter before reaching upwards to cup her cheeks in between his palms and gently wipe away the tears. “Which is it, babe?”

“Both,” Olivia admitted, still sniffling. “Also, my back hurts.” She waved a hand when Jake’s eyes widened. “It’s Braxton Hicks, Jake, nothing to worry about,” she assured him. “The paint just dried in the nursery; she can’t be ready to come out already.” 

That day marked one of the first times that Olivia Ballard ever willingly admitted that she was wrong.


	19. Chapter 19

Olivia was used to waking up in the middle of the night. Even though she was in a much better place than she had once been in relation to the trauma that had taken place during the week that she had been held hostage, she couldn't keep the dreams away. Jake had been woken more than once by the sound of her screams, and it always terrified him more than he would ever admit to her out of fear of upsetting her further. That night when she woke up, though, it wasn't because of the dreams. It was because of the pain. And oh, God, what was that pain?

She struggled to climb from the bed without waking Jake in the process. She finally managed to do so and headed for the bathroom, her eyes squeezing shut as the fading pain returned with a vengeance. What she was experiencing felt like a Braxton-Hicks contraction on steroids, which meant that the labor she was going through was no longer false. And if that wasn't the most terrifying thought she had had in months, she didn't know what was. What she did know was that Jake was never going to let her forget it if she didn't wake him up at that exact moment.

It wasn't that difficult to pull Jake from his sleep. He usually woke the moment that something moved within his vicinity; it said a lot about how familiar they were with one another that he could sleep through her tossing and turning episodes and her constant trips to the bathroom. He was still a navy man at heart, as he so often reminded her when she questioned just why he was so stubborn ("Martin blood and Navy training", he always replied), and navy men were not that good at sleeping through the night without thinking that the lamp in the corner was a murderer for at least half a second every time the lights went off. So when Olivia shook his arm, Jake shot up immediately, and Olivia's amusement was overtaken by her relief.

"I think that you might have been right," she informed him quietly. "These aren't Braxton Hicks, Jake. They're…I don't know what they are. But we need to go to the hospital right now," she reiterated, walking across the room to open the top drawer of their dresser. She removed a maternity sweater and a looser pair of pants, slipping into them quickly and pulling her hair back within moments. By the time she turned around, though, Jake was also dressed. He still hadn't spoken and had a look of absolute panic mixed with overwhelming excitement on his face, but he was as prepared to walk out the door as she was.

"How long have you been having contractions, Liv?" Jake asked, bending down to grab the diaper and hospital bags off of the floor by the closet and then heading towards the nursery to get the car seat. He returned to the room moments later with a raised eyebrow and an expectant expression.

"I don't know," she admitted, breathing in deeply when a second contraction hit her. "They're still far enough apart, though. We'll have time to get to George Washington," she assured him, squeezing his hand when the pressure grew more severe. "But we should go right now, because I really want to be given something other than breathing techniques to deal with this, and we don't have that here."

"Okay. All right," Jake agreed, taking her hand in his and carefully leading her down the stairs. He grabbed his keys from their place by the front door and held the door open for her, locking it behind him when they were both outside. He flinched when the coolness of the air hit his skin, causing Olivia to look towards him in confusion before realizing that he hadn't grabbed anything more than a light jacket before heading out the door. She shook her head. "Don't worry, babe, I've got a heavier one in the car," he reassured her. "If I didn't, I'd go out and buy one. Are you ready?" he asked quickly, helping her down the stairs before she could answer.

"I am ready, my love, that's why we're awake at three in the morning," Olivia stated, smiling when Jake chuckled. "I'm nervous," she whispered as they made their way towards the car.

"So am I," Jake admitted, smiling when she looked towards him in mild surprise. He opened her car door and helped her into her seat. "What? I don't like you being in pain in normal situations, Liv, and the science says that this is far from a normal situation. I'm also already positive I won't like seeing her in pain, and they're going to have to prick her heel when she's two minutes old. This is going to be the most exciting and most nerve-wracking day of our lives, love." He grinned as he stole her new nickname for his own use, causing her to roll her eyes. He circled around to the other side of the car and slid behind the wheel. They were on the road within moments, and Olivia reached for Jake's hand across the console. He lifted their entwined fingers to his lips and pressed a kiss against her pulse point. "We're going to have a baby today," he murmured in wonderment.

"We are," Olivia confirmed. They both laughed nervously before riding in comfortable silence for the rest of the way. After all, babies were a lot to ponder, especially when they were only hours away from making their grand entrance into the world.

It didn't take them long to reach George Washington University Hospital, and, surprisingly, the admission process wasn't lengthy, either. Less than an hour after arriving, Olivia was settled into a bed on the maternity ward floor, a random soap opera that showed reruns late into the night on the screen in front of her. Dr. Reilly had come and gone, informing her that she was six centimeters dilated before signing off on an epidural. Olivia was almost positive that there wasn't a patient in the ward that hadn't considered that anesthesiologist their best friend for at least a split second. She was considering sending flowers to his family after what he had done for her sanity.

Jake was seated in a chair directly next to her bed, his eyes on her face. He had already made the phone calls to everyone that needed to be informed, and she had heard squeals in pitches she hadn't even imagined as being possible. Philippa had burst into tears, as had Naomi. It was safe to say that while Eliana was most eagerly anticipated by her parents, she certainly wasn't lacking when it came to supportive fans.

"What the hell is going on with these people?" Olivia asked incredulously when one of the main female characters on the screen discovered she had a biological child she hadn't known about. "That doesn't even make sense."

"People thrive off drama, Liv," Jake reminded her. "It's part of the reason that politics is so captivating." Nevertheless, he grabbed the remote from the table and turned the channel for her. "Here's HGTV," he suggested, leaving it on the channel when she nodded. They were both focused on the two brothers redesigning homes when Dr. Reilly returned, a concerned expression on her face, and Olivia felt her stomach drop.

"No, don't pull that face," Dr. Reilly said immediately. "I'm going to check to see how dilated you are, and then we're going to do an ultrasound. We're only doing this because the baby appeared breech in the last sonogram, which could cause problems for the both of you during delivery. We just want to be prepared for whatever situation we all find ourselves in." She quickly checked Olivia's dilation and documented it on a chart. "You're at seven centimeters now. You should be extremely thankful for that epidural right now, my friend. This is a fast labor for a first baby." After hooking up the sonogram machine, she squirted the gel on Olivia's stomach, apologizing when Olivia flinched. Dr. Reilly sighed as she read the image. "Well, the good news is that your daughter is completely healthy. The bad news is that she's also breech."

"Does that put them in danger?" Jake questioned, sitting up straighter in his chair.

"No, Captain Ballard," Dr. Reilly replied patiently. "Over forty percent of women who deliver breech babies do so vaginally, and while there may be a slight increase in the risks associated with delivery, it's far from unheard of for a breech baby to be delivered completely healthy if the mother chooses to go that route. However, it's much more difficult, which causes the problems that everyone talks about. If the baby won't budge, that can cause issues for both mother and baby. Being in the birth canal for a long period of time can lead to breathing issues, especially if the baby's in a position where her cord can easily wrap around her neck, which your daughter is." The doctor sighed, shaking her head. "I would recommend a caesarean section as your other course of action. It takes longer to recover from, but it's easier than delivering a breech baby naturally. It also helps everyone to be just a bit calmer."

Olivia glanced towards Jake. He shrugged. "It's your decision, babe," he informed her. "I'll support you no matter what."

"Let's do the operation," Olivia decided within moments. "If it's safer for her, then that's what we do."

Dr. Reilly nodded. "I will go reserve an OR. Captain Ballard, you're going to want to go scrub in and change so that you can enter the operating room. I'm guessing that you're not faint-hearted?" She nodded when he shook his head. "Then you should be fine. Is there anyone else you want to call before we begin to prep you, Olivia?"

"Where is your mom?" Olivia asked her husband, turning slightly to look up at him. "Is there any way she could get here on time?"

"I called her over half an hour ago, and she's still in Fairfax with family. She should be here any moment," Jake assured her. "Can she come into the operating room?" he asked Dr. Reilly.

The doctor nodded. "Of course. Two other people can be in the room with her," she informed him. "I can have a nurse inform anyone else waiting in the waiting room of our progress if the delivery takes longer than anticipated," she offered before leaving the room.

Olivia stared down at her hands, lifting one of them in the air and watching it shake. "I don't think this is normal," she murmured, causing Jake to glance away from her face and towards her tremoring fingers. He encased her hand in between his and pressed a kiss to her fingertips. "I'm scared, Jake."

"I know," he murmured. "But being scared is okay, Liv. It means you care. And you know that Dr. Reilly isn't going to let anything go wrong in there. So just be here with me, forget about the operation, and think about meeting our little girl soon." He apologized when his phone went off, removing it from his pocket and replying to the message he had received. "Mom's on her way up."

Philippa walked in several minutes later, a concerned expression on her face. "Is everything all right?" she asked kindly, motherly concern in her voice as she looked at Olivia. "Today's the day you'll meet your daughter. It's a special day, Olivia." She glanced towards her son. "What are the doctors saying about the C-section?"

"It's safest for the baby, so that's what Liv's going with," Jake informed her. "I was just about to leave to scrub in so that they can prep her. Mom, we were wondering if you could be in there with us, too."

"Of course," Philippa agreed immediately. "It's not every day I get to watch my granddaughter be brought into the world."

The two left, and Olivia was left alone with her thoughts. By the time that she was prepped and Jake had returned to the room, tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her eyes were full of so much pain that her husband didn't know how to react.

"It's going to be okay," he murmured as he sank into the chair beside her to take her hand. "Liv, I promise you that it's going to be okay. I know this isn't how you envisioned the day, and I know that this is scarier than I can imagine, but you and our daughter are going to be just fine." He wiped away her tears with a gentle smile. "Now c'mon. Smile before our baby thinks you were a grump for half of her first day of life."

She chuckled at the comment before growing serious. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he murmured against her wrist, pressing a kiss to the skin there before the orderlies arrived to wheel them to the operating room. "Always means always."

"Always means always," she replied softly as they made their way down the halls.

Everything that happened after they entered the operating room was surreal. She felt the pressure that the doctors warned her about, and she shook for the entirety of the operation, her hand clutched tightly in Jake's, but everything was out of focus until the moment that she heard her daughter's first cries. And then, suddenly and without explanation, everything made absolute and perfect sense.

"Go be with her," she whispered to Jake. "She shouldn't be alone so soon after being born. And I have your mom," she reminded when he looked hesitant. "I won't be alone, all right? Don't let her be alone, either." From the look in his eyes, he hadn't even thought to hesitate until the last moment. Somehow, that was sweeter than anything she had seen before in her life.

Philippa approached the table, smiling and holding her hand. "You did so good, Olivia. I know my son gave you a few pep talks, but he's too infatuated with your little one to keep it up." She chuckled lightly. "She's beautiful. She looks like the perfect mixture of the two of you, and she's absolutely gorgeous."

"I guess you were right about us needing to buy stock in baseball bat companies," Olivia murmured back, causing Philippa to laugh. They continued to converse for a few more moments until she stopped feeling pressure against her abdomen and the cries that had been echoing the room suddenly stopped and were replaced with the sound of Jake speaking to their daughter outside of the womb for the very first time while the baby simply whimpered up at him. Olivia couldn't hear the words her husband was speaking, but she could hear the love and devotion he was speaking with, and the raw emotions brought tears to her eyes.

"Okay, Dad, here you go," one of the nurses said loudly, presumably handing the baby over to Jake. "How about we let Mom get a peek before we take her to be checked out?"

Jake responded softly before approaching the operating table, his eyes glistening and his happiness obvious despite the mask covering his mouth. "She's gorgeous," he murmured, turning so that Olivia could see the baby and leaning down so that she could stroke her daughter's cheek. "You did so good, babe. I'm so proud of you."

"She's so little," Olivia whimpered, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I wasn't expecting her to be so little."

"Just under six pounds," Jake informed her, his own voice shaking. "She's only eighteen inches long. She took after you, my love."

Olivia nodded slightly. "Okay, you need to take her away from me until I can hold her. I'm going to have a fit, I swear," she warned her husband, causing him to chuckle. "I'm being serious, Ballard."

"Okay, okay," he agreed, backing away slightly. "I'm going to go with her to the nursery. We'll see you very soon. Won't we, baby girl?" he asked his daughter. "We love you," he called as he headed towards the door.

Olivia smiled after him. Her family was finally complete.


	20. Chapter 20

The first eight hours after the birth of Eliana Rose Ballard were blissful for her parents. Olivia fell asleep within an hour of the delivery of her daughter, giving Jake several hours to bond with the child while she rested. While Olivia was out of it enough that she couldn't carry on conversation, she did hear the phone calls he was making and the exclamations of joy that he seemed to be replying to every few moments. The moment that she was out from under the influence of the pain medication she had been given enough to focus on something in front of her without her vision becoming blurry in under five seconds, she was looking for her daughter.

It didn't take long to find the newborn; Jake was standing at the window, a small bundle of light green fabric held close to his chest. His attention was on the face of their daughter, and Olivia took a moment to appreciate the expression of absolute adoration on her husband's face before clearing her throat to inform him that she was awake. He turned around slowly, careful not to jostle the baby, and grinned at her as he headed in the direction of her hospital bed.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, babe," he teased gently, shifting Eliana slightly in his arms so that he could more easily transfer her into his wife's. "The sun's actually up now," he informed her once their daughter was in her embrace. "Eliana was getting a little Vitamin D by looking through the windows." His smile widened as he brushed a finger against Eliana's plump little cheek, causing her eyelashes to flutter as she struggled to decide whether she wanted to remain asleep or wake up. "It's slightly ironic that we named her something that honors the sun and she decided to be born in the middle of the night, isn't it?" He smiled softly at the baby when she finally made her decision and slowly blinked open her hazel eyes. "Yeah, sweetheart, I was talking about you," he murmured, placing his hand against her cap-covered head and leaning down to press a kiss to Olivia's temple. "Do you think her ears are already burning?" he questioned as Eliana continued to gaze up at them.

"I don't think that actually happens," Olivia responded, her focus still on their daughter. "Did your mom leave already?" she questioned after realizing that Philippa was no longer in the room. "I figured she'd stay here until we left."

"Oh, she plans to," Jake replied. "She left to get some food that my aunts made and stick it in the fridge for us so that we don't have to worry about anything once we get her home," he explained. "She told me to tell you that she loves you and she's very proud of you," he informed her, pulling faces at Eliana when she glanced towards him once again. "She also spent time researching organic formulas." He shrugged when Olivia glanced in his direction. "She wants to be helpful, and she didn't know enough about it to give us advice without doing research. When she bottle-fed us, well, it was the seventies and she was broke. A much different situation going on here."

Olivia smiled slightly. When she had made the choice to bottle-feed, no one had challenged her decision. Philippa had even told her the story of how both of her children ended up bottle-feeding after they both lost a substantial amount of their birthweight while breastfeeding. Jake had patiently listened to her explain her reasons for choosing not to breastfeed over a dozen times even though his response was always the same. It was still strange to her how supportive people could be of things that seemed so simple to the rest of the world. It wasn't a bad feeling, though. "Did she find any brands that she thinks we should check out?"

"She ordered about seven different brands," Jake responded with exasperation, causing Olivia to burst into laughter. "Baby, she was dedicated." He beamed down at the baby in his wife's arms. "A lot of people care about you, princess. You'll figure that out really quick." Eliana yawned, causing both of her parents to laugh. "I know, you're just so interested in what I'm saying, aren't you?" His phone suddenly began to ring, taking his attention away from the baby for a moment as he read the message flashing across the screen. "Naomi wants you to know that you're extremely brave and she's very proud of you," he informed her as he glanced away from the device. "She also wants to know when she and Fitz can come and visit. Her exact word usage is 'not to be pushy, but can we meet the cherub soon?', and I am not joking," he laughed.

Olivia smiled slightly, brushing her lips against Eliana's forehead. "Tell them to give me a bit to get ready."

Jake glanced up confusedly. "Babe, you had a baby eight hours ago. They don't care about what you're wearing," he informed her slowly. "They wouldn't care even if you hadn't had a baby eight hours ago; they're our friends."

"I know that they don't care, but if I don't get out of this bed now I don't think I ever will, and I don't even want to think of the state of my hair at this moment," she replied, wincing as she shifted slightly and pulled her staples. "I've never been shot, but I'm pretty sure I can understand your pain now," she muttered as the pain reverberated through her body for several moments. She drew in a deep breath. "Okay, maybe we should wait until your mother gets here so that somebody can be with the baby in case I faint, because this is the exact opposite of painless."

Jake kissed her forehead apologetically. "I'm sorry, baby." He pressed a kiss to the apple of her cheek and then nuzzled her neck before accepting their daughter into his arms. "Mommy's a little hurt, so you're going to hang out with me for a while, okay?" he cooed. Olivia smiled at the sight before her and turned at the sound of the door opening.

Philippa made her way inside with a smile and a bagful of food. "I figured that the last thing you needed was hospital food," she explained as she bent to gently hug Olivia and then placed the food in a spare chair by the bed. "How are you feeling?" she asked seriously, settling on the sofa and looking inquiringly towards Olivia.

"Well, it's not the most comfortable I've been," Olivia admitted. "But she makes everything worth it," she added, glancing at her daughter with a fond smile as Jake walked about, murmuring to his daughter as he went. "I'm going to try to get up for the first time in a second so that I can at least go change into clean pajamas, but I don't know how this is going to turn out, so we were wondering if you could watch the baby for a second if anything happens."

"Oh, absolutely," Philippa agreed immediately. "In fact, hand her over right now." Jake approached his mother immediately and handed the baby over. "Hello, Eliana," she cooed. "We're going to be best buddies, aren't we? You can run to me when Momma and Daddy are being mean and won't let you…" she trailed off. "I don't know where I was going with that, you're not mean people."

"Jake probably won't let her date," Olivia offered, smiling at Jake as he made his way towards her.

"Thirty is a perfectly acceptable age to start dating," Jake defended as he moved the tray out of the way and moved over to the side of the bed nearest the bathroom to help her out from under the covers. "You ready for this?"

"Not at all, but it has to be done." Olivia moved the covers aside slowly and reached for Jake's hand. He smiled at her reassuringly as she lifted her legs over the side of the bed, wincing as it pulled at her stitches. "You okay?" he murmured once she was on her feet and breathing in and out deeply.

"Yup," she replied tightly. By some miracle, she made her way into the bathroom with Jake's help and left him leaning against the wall while she used the bathroom, changed into a fresh pair of flannel pajama pants and a tee shirt with the NAVY logo that had been stolen from Jake at some point early in their relationship, and combed and pulled back her hair. By the time she splashed water on her face and brushed her teeth, she felt human once again. She then stepped into slippers and grabbed her robe from a hook on the door before slowly making her way back into the main hospital room.

Jake helped her into the robe, apologizing when she winced slightly. He then helped her get settled back into the bed before removing several containers from the bag of food that his mother had brought before. "Mom went a little crazy," he explained as he took the lids off of a few of the containers. "Mom, where did you get this from again?" he asked Philippa over his shoulder.

"Oh, some adorable little bakery on the corner near your old apartment," Philippa explained, shifting Eliana slightly in her arms when the baby began to fuss. "I've been there before, but they have the best breakfast selection, and I remembered you saying Olivia likes croissants. Considering you both look like deliriously happy zombies, I figured protein and carbohydrates were a safe bet." She made a sympathetic face down at Eliana when she continued to make upset noises. "I know, sweetheart, but you need to let your parents eat." She shifted Eliana onto her shoulder, and the baby calmed down immediately.

Olivia and Jake were halfway through breakfast when they heard a knock on the door. After calling out that it was safe to enter, they caught sight of Naomi and Fitz peeking into the room, similar expressions of excitement on their faces. Olivia had to bite back a passive-aggressive comment about the state of their relationship (seriously, even Fitz couldn't be this blind, could he?), but the joy she felt when she caught sight of her friends was genuine. Jake was her person, but Naomi, Fitz, Abby, Quinn, Huck, and everyone else? They were her family, too. And despite the slowness that Fitz apparently suffered from, it was nice to see her family happy.

"I'm trying really hard not to squeal right now," Naomi admitted the moment that she was in the room, approaching Jake and cooing over the baby that had been returned to his arms. "Hi, Miss Eliana. I'm your Aunt Naomi, and I'm going to be your favorite aunt. Yes, I am," she murmured as the baby was placed in her arms.

"Are you about to cry?" Fitz asked amusedly as she blinked rapidly.

"Yes, Fitz. Yes, I am about to cry. Look at this face. Our friends made this," Naomi replied defensively, her voice softening as she glanced down at the baby. "Oh, you're just perfect. Your dad needs to buy stock in those baseball bat companies right now, huh?" She turned back towards Fitz. "Look at her. Look at this." She glanced up at Olivia. "You are badass, woman." She then glanced down at the baby sheepishly. "Oh, no. Don't use that kind of language. That's bad."

"Well, Aunt Naomi's already made the first steps towards ruining her vocabulary," Fitz sighed. "That's great, Nai." He smirked at Jake and Olivia behind Naomi's back, ignoring the woman's playful yet fierce glare. "How are you two doing?" he asked Jake and Olivia.

"Well, exhausted," Olivia admitted with a laugh. "But extremely happy," she added, her eyes on her daughter. "Once we got past the 'oh God she's coming' phase of panic, it was a very calm experience. Being told I had to have a surgery wasn't fun, but she's so worth it."

Naomi transferred the baby into Fitz's arms before turning her attention to Olivia. "She's so little, my God!" she exclaimed with a wide smile. "I was expecting her to be much bigger, because, you know, Jake's like a giant." She smirked when Jake rolled his eyes at her. "She's not even six pounds, right?"

"Five pounds, fifteen ounces," Jake confirmed. Eliana let out a small cry, causing Fitz's eyes to widen as he glanced towards Jake and Olivia for help. "You've done this how many times now?" Jake teased, stepping forward to take his daughter from his friend's arms. "I think Liv wanted her back, anyway," he added, carefully transferring the baby into Olivia's arms. "No, seriously, you looked like she had just declared war on you or something," he continued, his focus back on Fitz.

"Little people yelling at you is somehow more intimidating than adults yelling at you," Fitz explained. "Please back me up here, Naomi."

"Oh, yeah, I would have reacted the same way," Naomi agreed. She turned her attention to Olivia. "Boys, you're kicked out."

"Why?" Jake asked. Naomi turned towards him with a raised eyebrow. "You know what? I don't need to know why. I'll go make some phone calls." He walked away with a muttered, "I have no phone calls to make." Fitz followed him with a sigh, winking at Naomi over his shoulder.

Olivia glanced towards Naomi questioningly. The other woman drew in a deep breath before sinking into the chair next to the bed. "Fitz and I are together." She rushed through the sentence, her words almost indistinguishable, but Olivia still understood everything that was being said. "I just wanted to tell you privately because I know that…" She caught sight of Philippa in the corner and backtracked. "You're his friend, and so is Jake, and I want to make sure that you're okay with it." She bit her lip nervously.

"Naomi," Olivia began with a sigh, smiling when the woman's eyes grew wide. "This is amazing news. I'd say it's the best news of the day, but…" She shifted Eliana in her arms. "Well, I'm no liar."

"I know, I know. We didn't want to steal your spotlight, but it would have been awkward if you didn't know, and…" Naomi smiled. "Well, now you don't have to invite plus-ones to the christening for the two of us."

"Very good logic. We'll be saving some trees." Olivia smiled when Naomi chuckled. "Really, Naomi, I'm thrilled for you. I know that Jake will be, too." She then glanced over at Philippa. "Philippa, you look like you're about to burst," she informed her mother-in-law. "Just say whatever you wanted to say."

"Well, I wanted to congratulate them on getting their heads out of their asses, but that seemed a bit harsh, so now I'm going with congratulations," Philippa commented mildly, completely comfortable with her use of the expletive. Olivia was beginning to realize just how much her husband took after his mother. "So, congratulations, my dear."

Naomi chuckled. "Thanks, Pippa," she replied. "Congratulations to you on the super cute granddaughter, by the way. She's scrumptious." She brushed a hand over Eliana's hair before standing up. "I'm gonna go hunt down the boys so that Jake can tease us mercilessly for not listening to him earlier," she sighed.

Olivia smiled slightly. That did sound like Jake.

Thirty minutes later, Jake returned to the room, but he wasn't alone. Huck, Quinn, and Abby were behind him, and the two other women were practically bouncing on their toes. "I found them in the lobby," he explained, laughing when Quinn glared at him. "Okay, so I called them," he admitted. "Eliana, meet the other people that'll probably never leave you alone," he introduced, carefully lifting Eliana from Olivia's arms and pressing a kiss to her forehead. He glanced back at Olivia. "Cyrus and Michael are sending flowers, but Ella has a cold," he explained. "Michael told Cyrus that he'd kill him if he came up here and exposed the baby, so he's holding off."

"Cyrus actually listened to somebody and the sky isn't falling?" Olivia asked with a smirk. Jake chuckled at her. "No, that's very nice of him." She glanced at her friends. "She's littler than you thought, right?"

"I didn't understand how tiny six pounds was until this exact moment," Abby admitted as the baby was placed in her arms. "Hi, Eliana. I'm Abby. It's very nice to meet you. I work for the President, who is also your parents' best friend, so if anyone's mean to you, you just tell me, okay? You could tell your Uncle Huck or Aunt Quinn, but they're not calm people, so maybe just stick to your parents, your grandmother, and me. Aunt Naomi is also nice, but I'm pretty sure she can go insane in about two minutes, so maybe hold off until you're a teenager and some boy hurts you. Then she'll help your dad in whatever way he needs to get back at the guy." She chuckled when Eliana yawned widely. "She really has a way of making you feel like you're being listened to, doesn't she?"

"She's done that to Jake at least half a dozen times," Olivia informed her friend. "You should probably just get used to it." She smiled when the baby was handed off to Quinn. "Have you even held a baby before?"

"Not one this small," Quinn admitted, hesitant to make any sudden moves. "I've been less terrified with a gun aimed at me, honestly. She's so freaking little."

"She won't stay that way forever," Olivia assured her friend. "Quinn…Okay, you're holding her like she's breakable. Calm down."

"Uh, she is breakable!" Quinn defended. "Are you honestly telling me that Jake wasn't hesitant to hold her at all?"

"Not outwardly," Jake answered. "Inside, though, I was terrified."

"You've disabled bombs, my love," Olivia laughed incredulously.

"Yeah, and the bombs were less terrifying," Jake informed her.

"Here, Huck, it's your turn," Quinn stated, turning towards their friend and carefully transferring the baby into his arms. "Also, I want to go talk to Mrs. Ballard. Hi, Mrs. Ballard," she greeted, heading in Philippa's direction. They began to talk quietly while Huck tried to look calm. It didn't take Jake long to take mercy on him and accept the baby back into his own arms. Small steps were required, Olivia supposed.

It was nearing lunchtime when everyone finally left, and Olivia and Jake were alone with their daughter for a few minutes while Philippa left to pick up edible food from a local takeout place. Dr. Reilly arrived just ten minutes after Philippa had departed with a wide smile on her face.

"Hi, you three," she greeted cheerfully. "Olivia, your nurse informed us that you were out of bed already?" When Olivia nodded, she did the same. "That's good. We want to keep you at least until tomorrow, but we'll see how you're doing in the morning and go from there, all right?" She smiled when both Jake and Olivia nodded. "All right, then. Well, I'll leave you to coo over that baby in peace. She's gorgeous, by the way," she called over her shoulder as she walked out of the room.

Jake turned towards Olivia with a smile. "Home sounds nice, doesn't it?"

Olivia smiled. "Home sounds perfect."


	21. Chapter 21

It took two days for Olivia to be cleared to go home, but she didn't mind the extra time spent in the hospital. While she was obviously more comfortable in her own bed next to her husband, she also appreciated the time she was able to spend getting to know her daughter with medical professionals around. While she knew that Jake was more experienced in keeping people alive than anyone else she had ever met, she was also a new mother, which meant that she panicked when Eliana made a face that she hadn't seen before, even if it was just an expression preceding a sneeze, cough, or yawn. Still, she certainly wasn't unhappy when Dr. Reilly walked in and informed her that they could leave that afternoon.

It turned out that caesarean sections took a lot out of women. Olivia had anticipated the pain and the lethargy, but the inability to walk without Jake nearby to steady her if the movement became too much was not something she was prepared for. The day that they prepared to leave the hospital, however, she took her first shower since the birth while Philippa and Jake watched after the baby. Well, while Philippa watched after the baby and Jake hovered near the bathroom door with his eyes never leaving Eliana but his ears focused on the running water behind the wooden blockade. Olivia had originally been slightly put out by his overprotectiveness, but she was extremely thankful when she needed help to wash her hair and realized that calling in a stranger while she was naked was not something high on her bucket list. By the time that Olivia had finished showering, media outlets had begun to gather outside the hospital, and she began the process of dressing in a striped navy sweater and loose navy slacks with a slightly heavier heart than she had had when she woke that morning. By the time that her hair and makeup was done and she was slipping into navy flats, she was equal parts excited and dreadful about walking out of the hospital doors.

Eliana had apparently picked up on her mother's anxiety, because she was being a complete angel. Jake had changed her diaper after Olivia had climbed into the shower, so she was all clean and ready to be dressed. The baby didn't even let out a whimper as her mother dressed her in a navy blue dress with a white pea coat atop it, nor did she flinch when Olivia slipped on navy blue tights and white shoes. She just blinked up at her mother as a tiny white bow was placed in her dark locks. As Olivia's mood brightened, she came to the unsurprising realization that their daughter was already taking after Jake when it came to her ability to make Olivia's day better by simply being there without complaint.

It didn't take long for the doctors to officially discharge Olivia and Eliana from the hospital, but that wasn't where the difficulties began. No, those started right around the time that it became obvious that neither Olivia nor Jake had any idea how to strap a newborn into a car seat. In hindsight, they probably should have practiced.

"Okay, I think you just… okay, that seems right," Jake commented as Olivia carefully placed the baby into the car seat as it rested on the bed. "No red flags yet." He paused for a moment, staring at the straps as though they were daunting him. "Do we buckle this one or this one first?"

"I think we pull this up and then put her arms through here, and then that buckles into that," Olivia replied, gesturing to explain what she was saying. "That's how it looked in the pictures at the store, anyway."

"We really should have practiced this beforehand," Jake muttered as he did as she had told him. "Well, that seems safe," he commented, stepping back to look at the sleeping baby. "Mommy and Daddy aren't always this clueless, pumpkin, I promise," he whispered to his sleeping daughter. "Do you think she needs a blanket?"

"Yes," Olivia replied immediately. "I packed one in the diaper bag. It's right on top."

Jake went over to the diaper bag and removed the white blanket made of fleece from atop the other items Olivia had packed. "Yeah, I'd say this is plenty warm," he commented as he tucked it around the baby in the car seat. He then pulled the cover up to guard her from the wind and the paparazzi when they stepped outside. "Okay, I'd say she's ready. Are you?" he asked Olivia, glancing over at her as she leaned down to check on their daughter and brush a kiss against her cheek.

"Sure. Remember, my love, no punching anyone with a camera. Unless it's TMZ," she added as an afterthought, smiling as he helped her shrug into her navy blue pea coat and button it before pressing a kiss to her temple and retrieving their daughter's car seat from the bed. "Philippa, you want to walk out with us?" she questioned, knowing her mother-in-law's answer before the other woman even spoke.

"No, I'll leave this one to you two," the woman replied with a fond smile. She brushed a kiss to her son's cheek and then to Olivia's. "I love you both." She then bent down to Eliana's level. "I love you too, sweetness. Grandma will see you soon, okay?"

Olivia and Jake watched Philippa leave with smiles on their faces before returning their attention to the baby. Jake shifted slightly before smiling lovingly at Olivia. "Let's do this thing," he offered, leading Olivia to nod as she took hold of one of his hands. He led them towards the door. Neither of them looked back.

Olivia was allowed to walk out of the hospital instead of being wheeled out after having a heated conversation with the leadership, which meant that it didn't take them long to make their way into the lobby. And as soon as they were in front of the front doors, it became obvious that there would be no quiet exit for their new family. The cameras were everywhere, and the reporters wanted their story. Olivia suddenly regretted her decision not to be wheeled out the backdoor after having a surgery two days before as she was faced with the prospect of greeting the world with a smile not even seventy-two hours after bringing a small person into the world.

Thankfully, Abby had offered to drive their car around to the front and handle the media when they were gone, so she was waiting directly outside of the front doors. Jake glanced at Olivia with a raised eyebrow, and she nodded and squeezed his hand. He returned the nod and squeeze before stepping closer to the front doors to open them and then leading her slowly out of the building. The questions that were shouted at them were almost deafening.

"All right," Jake muttered as they made their way towards the waiting vehicle. He let go of Olivia's hand to pull open the backdoor and made quick work of strapping the baby in, breathing out a sigh of relief when doing so proved to be simpler than strapping her into the car seat itself. Then again, Jake had always done his best while under pressure.

Olivia climbed into the backseat on one side of the baby and smiled at Jake as he closed her door behind her. Jake thanked Abby quietly as he opened the car door. She climbed out with a smile and waved to Olivia before going out to face the circus. Jake slid behind the wheel and put the car in drive before placing his foot on the gas and carefully pulling out of the parking lot and onto the main road.

Thankfully, there was no media circus outside of their home. Olivia breathed a sigh of relief as Jake pulled into their driveway and killed the engine. He smiled back at her before unbuckling his seatbelt and opening his door to climb out of the vehicle. He was at her side within moments to pull open the door and help her out before leaning inside the vehicle to unbuckle the baby's car seat and lift it carefully from its base. They then headed for their front door. Olivia unlocked the door to save Jake the trouble of doing so while juggling the baby and most of their belongings from the hospital. When they walked into their living room, everything felt right. They were home for a family of three for the very first time, and that was an amazing feeling.

It didn't take long for Jake to bring in all their luggage from the hospital. Olivia took the time to change Eliana's diaper and trade her outfit for a sleeper. She was almost done dressing her when Jake returned from unpacking their things and dropped a kiss to the back of her head. "You're going to steal her as soon as she's dressed, aren't you?" Olivia asked as she finished closing the snaps on the tiny pink outfit.

"No, I'll be nice and share," Jake replied teasingly, settling onto the sofa next to his wife and daughter and smiling down at the baby. "She looks so happy," he commented as Olivia began to swaddle her. "And you really shouldn't be doing all of this, babe. I can handle it."

"You lift her and hand her to me every time," Olivia countered. "It's not like I'm straining my stitches or anything." She smiled when Eliana blinked up at her. "Isn't that right, baby girl? You tell Daddy to stop worrying about me, okay?"

"That hasn't happened in the past, and it's not going to happen now," Jake stated, picking up the baby so that Olivia could settle next to him on the sofa. He carefully transferred Eliana back into her mother's arm before pulling Olivia close and pressing a kiss to her temple. "I'm really glad to be home with you. This makes it all feel real." He glanced at the baby. "We're parents, Liv."

"I know," she replied softly. "It's pretty awesome."

This was their future. And she was already positive that it was going to be better than anything in their past.


	22. Chapter 22

Two hours after arriving home with their newborn daughter, Olivia and Jake became aware of just how in over their heads they truly were. Yes, they were both adults who had, at some point in their lives, faced up against dictators and mercenaries and other people that could be grouped with the scum of the earth. Jake had disabled bombs many times in the past, and Olivia had managed to escape kidnappers without many resources. When it came to life experience, they had an overabundance of it. What they didn't have an overabundance of experience with was just what one was supposed to do with members of the three-and-under crowd.

It all started at four in the afternoon on that first day. Eliana had been sleeping peacefully since the family of three had settled in, and Olivia and Jake had been able to eat and unpack while the baby rested. She began to cry just as Jake began washing the dishes, but Olivia found no difficulties with calming her the first time, simply changing her diaper and feeding her half of a bottle before settling her back in her Moses basket. It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that Eliana let her parents know that she had not received a satisfactory amount of their time and was thus going to sing them the song of her people until they realized that she wanted nothing more than to be spoiled in the arms of one of the people that had given her life.

Jake scooped the baby out of the basket within moments of her first whimper and began to pace around the room, his hand almost completely covering her back. He shushed her gently and allowed her to grab onto his shirt with tiny hands, bouncing her slightly as he went. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and then settled onto the sofa next to Olivia with the baby cradled close to his chest. "She's already out again," he murmured, darting a glance down at his daughter and smiling at his wife.

"Of course she is. You are a very comfortable pillow," Olivia replied mildly, stroking a finger down her daughter's cheek. "Do you think she's going to stay asleep?" she questioned softly, her eyes still on her daughter. She smiled as the baby's nose wrinkled and she opened her mouth for a tiny yet adorable yawn before scrunching up her face and settling back into sleep. "Or is she too aware of how obsessed we are with her to give us any rest?"

"I think we should be good for now," Jake whispered back, shifting Eliana slightly in his arms. "She's a little snuggle bug. Isn't that right, princess?" he murmured lovingly to his daughter. She only moved her arms a bit in response before snuggling closer to his chest. "I'm going to embrace this period of time," he decided, glancing at his wife. "I haven't told her she can't date a boy that rides a motorcycle and has entirely too many tattoos and facial piercings yet. She still likes me."

"What is it with that stereotype? I never once brought home a boy like that to my father when I was a teenager. To be fair, I never brought a boy home to my father when I was a teenager, but I still didn't go for the bad boys in my adolescence. That's probably how I ended up falling in love with a Captain in the Navy." She smirked at him when he faked insult. "I'm just joking, my love. Although you must admit, you were straight-laced by most people's standards when we met. After all, other than that encounter in a coffee shop-which Naomi makes fun of us for, by the way-the first time we met was when I was coming to you with a murder case and you told me you couldn't help after flirting your way through the interview."

"What can I say? I know a beautiful woman when I see one. You intrigued me." He smiled when she looked at him in exasperation. "You did. You intrigued me. Now mind you, there weren't many women at that point in my life that I had encountered that could send me for a loop, and then there you were, headstrong and stubborn, the exact opposite of what I had been anticipating. I was in love with you before the end of that first conversation, I think. And I can say slightly strange things like that now, because you already married me," he ended, causing her to burst into laughter. "Isn't that right, sweet pea?" he asked their daughter. "She already married me. And we had you, so now she can't make fun of me for my first impression of her."

"Well, I should've known that this whole marriage thing would have at least one downside," Olivia teased, causing Jake to playfully glare at her. "Since you shared your moment, should I share mine?" she offered, causing him to look at her with confusion in his eyes. "You told me when you first fell in love with me. It seems only fair for me to do the same."

"Well, that wasn't the moment that I fell in love with you, per se. That was the moment that I realized that I could love you, which was a more terrifying conclusion to come to. The moment that I realized that I had fallen in love with you came later. You weren't even around when I came to the realization, actually." He paused for a moment, shaking his head before looking at her and seeing the curiosity in her eyes. Drawing in a deep breath, he chose to continue. "When your father first threw me in the hole, it was so dark and so quiet. I began to look forward to being hauled out of it, even if it meant that I would have to be beaten, because at least the darkness was gone for a few minutes. And one day, when they tossed me back in, I was thinking of reasons to keep fighting. At that point, there weren't many that I could put down on a piece of paper. But I saw your face. As I was sitting there bleeding, I saw your face, and I realized that my main goal, my achievable goal, was to get out of that hole and make things right with you. And after I realized that you were what I was fighting for, realizing I was in love with you wasn't that far of a leap."

Olivia was blinking rapidly by the end of his story. "I realized at the same time," she admitted softly. "I know I've always told you it was after the kidnapping that I became aware that I loved you, but when you were taken to the hole…" She trailed off with a rueful smile. "Despite everything going on in my life, I couldn't forget what you had done for me. I didn't feel like I deserved it. That was when I realized that what I felt for you was stronger than whatever I felt for Fitz."

Jake nodded slightly, his attention on their sleeping daughter. "I'm not going to ask the question that I really want to right now, because he's my friend and because I'm not sure I want the answer at this point in time."

"I held onto him because he was safe," she explained softly. "He was the less terrifying option. Before we gave up all the pretenses and admitted that we would only ever work as friends…" She smiled sadly. "He didn't see me. Not the way that you do. And that was easier than letting someone in the way that I've let you in."

"I love you, you know that?" he murmured against her forehead. "I love our family."

"I love our family, too," she replied just as softly. They were nice words to be able to speak truthfully.

It was in that moment that Jake and Olivia became aware of how intrusive a newborn really was. Eliana let out a loud screech that redirected her parents' attention to her, and both Olivia and Jake burst into laughter. This whole parenthood thing was certainly going to be an appearance. Thankfully, they had each other. They couldn't see doing this with anyone else. That was one of the many, many reasons that they worked. It was also one of the reasons that they always would.


	23. Chapter 23

Olivia was exhausted when she was torn from sleep by the sound of a slight whimper coming from the bassinette several feet away. She hastily kicked off the covers and headed in her daughter's direction, scooping the baby's tiny form from the contraption she was situated in and holding her against her shoulder. She patted the baby's back gently and made soft shushing sounds as she inhaled the scent of her daughter's hair. Three months into this whole motherhood thing and she still didn't dread waking with the baby in the wee hours of the morning. She figured that was a good sign.

Jake usually woke up with the two other inhabitants of the bedroom, but he was exhausted from a mission the day before, and Olivia had no desire to wake him when he looked so peaceful with the streets strewn out around him on his side of the bed. His forty-fourth birthday had commenced nearly an hour before he had arrived home extremely early that morning, and while she had fully intended to keep the baby up until he returned, it was much too late for any of the home's residents to be up by the time that Jake walked through the door. She hoped that her plans later in the day would more than make up for her lack of enthusiastic greeting at one in the morning.

She had been planning to host a party in celebration of her husband's birthday since the moment that she had been informed of it, but the struggles of managing a consulting firm while raising a child had taken a lot out of her in those first few weeks after her return to work when Eliana was six weeks old, and she had struggled to come up with a plan for the celebration. With the help of Quinn, Abby, and Naomi, she had finally decided to host a get-together at Olivia Pope and Associates for all of their closest friends. It was probably the only way that Jake would willingly celebrate his birthday.

Olivia knew why her husband hated birthdays. He had grown up in an abusive household, and the treatment that he had received from his father had served to damage his psyche in adulthood. While Philippa did her best to make up for the sins of her late ex-husband, the death of his younger sister had taken away any joy that Jake had been able to muster up on his birthday, and he had gone many years without celebrating. They had celebrated the year before, but it hadn't been a party of any sorts; Olivia had just returned home from being kidnapped, and Jake's biggest concern had been her sanity, not his own. That was the reason that Olivia had made it her mission to give her husband a birthday unlike any other that he had ever had. The only thing difficult about her decision was that she had decided to keep it a secret from him. Anyone that knew her knew that she was fantastic at keeping secrets. When it came to keeping secrets from the man that she loved, however, she was usually an epic failure. It was a miracle that this time had been even remotely different than the others.

She returned her attention to her now-sleeping daughter and smiled with relief as she pressed a kiss to the baby's hair. "I know that being a baby is probably an exhausting thing, but let's let Daddy sleep a little longer, okay? He worked really hard to kick some bad guys' butts last night, sweet pea, he needs his rest." The baby simply nuzzled closer to Olivia's bosom. "Okay, then, I think that means we have a deal." She made her way over to the bed and situated herself on her side, letting Eliana lay on the sheet between her parents. "You going to be good here for a while?" she questioned her daughter seriously, smiling when the baby's eyes remained closed. "Yes, I think you're going to be fine."

It was nearing seven when Jake finally startled awake. After several months of marriage, Olivia had learned that he didn't wake peacefully, even if he didn't show violence while regaining consciousness. It was something that both she and Eliana had grown used to, and neither of them flinched as he turned over onto his side and greeted them with a tired yet enthusiastic smile. "Good morning, girls," he whispered. "You're up early."

"We are, because it's your birthday and we wanted to surprise you," Olivia informed him cheerfully. "Can you tell Daddy happy birthday, sweet pea?" she questioned Eliana, shifting the wide-awake baby in her arms so that she could see her father's smiling face. "You know how old he is today? Ask Daddy how old he is today." She bounced the baby slightly in her arms as she answered for her husband. "He's forty-four, Eli. He's forty-four, and he doesn't like it one bit."

"Yeah, yeah, baby, keep talking that tough game, but in eight years, you won't be making fun of me. I don't even hate it. Most of my gray hairs can be attributed to loving one of the most stubborn women on the face of the earth and then procreating with that woman. I never stop worrying these days; it's like an affliction. Not that I mind it." He lifted his daughter into his arms and held her in front of him. "You and your mama are worth all of the grays, don't worry, little love," he informed her seriously in the voice reserved for her, bringing her down to his level to kiss her cheek and then cradling her against his chest. "I'm perfectly content to spend the rest of my birthday just like this, you know," he stated, pressing a kiss to the top of Eliana's head. "Just in case you wanted to cancel that party you have planned at OPA today."

"Well, this isn't how you're spending all of your birthday… wait a second. You know about the party?" When he simply smirked, Olivia groaned. "I worked so hard to try to keep it a secret. How did you find out?" she whined, causing her husband to chuckle. "No, really, how did you find out?" she demanded with a touch of seriousness in her tone.

"Babe, I worked for a super-secret spy agency. You have a lot of talents, but keeping secrets from me isn't one of them." He chuckled when she folded her arms in anger, leaning forward to press a kiss against her forehead. "Thank you for trying, though," he murmured gratefully against her skin.

"Well, you have to fake surprise. Quinn really wanted to get you." Olivia smirked when Jake laughed. "I'm not joking, my love. This is one of the very few occasions where you are under strict orders to fake it until you make it, understand?"

"Understood," Jake agreed immediately.

Olivia had to give Jake credit. When they arrived at OPA later in the morning, he did act surprised. That might have been contributed to by Quinn's decision to jump out of nowhere, but it did the trick. They laughed and consumed cake and shared their daughter with her doting fans before returning to their home. While Olivia and Jake both loved the people they considered to be family, there was no better place for them than their own home with their daughter. That was how they ended up eating pizza straight out of its takeout box with a movie on in front of them and baby Eliana sleeping peacefully against her father's chest.

"Best birthday ever," Jake proclaimed as the credits began to play across the screen.

"Really? Why, because of this moment right now?" Olivia replied, taking a sip of wine from her glass.

"Because of this moment right now," Jake confirmed. "I love you, you know."

"Oh, I know," Olivia replied. "And as soon as we get that baby down, I'm going to let you show me just how much that is."

"And it just got even better," Jake muttered under his breath, grinning when Olivia began to laugh. "No one's ever done anything like this for me before."

"Well, I do love you and all. It's one of my goals in life to make you and the tiny human you're holding happy." She smiled up at her husband, possibly wine-drunk and completely blissful. "Hey, Jake?" She closed her eyes when he glanced in her direction. "Happy birthday. I love you, too."

He wrapped his free arm around her and pulled her closer. "Then it's a happy birthday, indeed."


End file.
